The Delaware Area Career Center Board of Education will hold a special meeting Wednesday night at the South Campus for a presentation from SHP Leading Design Inc., the architect in charge of the DACC’s consolidation project.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the South Campus board room and is open to the public.
Gregg Gaber, a managing principal at SHP, will be giving the board an update about the project and the research the company has done, DACC officials said.
The president of the DACC Board of Education, Julie Wagner-Feasel, said the meeting is a work session and there will be no action taken at the meeting.
Career Center officials announced the consolidation earlier this year, after a year-long study of both campuses that included community focus groups. The board decided to close the North Campus and move its programs to the South Campus.
Officials said consolidation will allow all students to take advantage of all the services the school has to offer and students will spend less time on buses getting between the two campuses.
Officials have stressed that no programs will be closed due to the consolidation. In order to accommodate the additional students and programs, though, there will be a $35 million renovation and expansion of the South Campus. Without a consolidation, $23 million in upgrades would be needed for both of the 40-year-old buildings, officials have said.
Once the improvements have been made to the South Campus, the North Campus building and property will be sold, but continue to be maintained, officials have said.
In August, the board voted to give the contract to Elford Construction, after hearing presentation from three local construction companies.
School officials have said students studying construction will be involved in the project and it will be used as a learning experience.
The DACC has also held several community meetings at both campuses and on Facebook to answer local residents’ questions.
The project is expected to be completed in time for the 2018-19 school year.
