Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 21, 1994 TAG: 9412210068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ABINGDON LENGTH: Medium
A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the site of the 89,200-square-foot building to be built on the campus of Virginia Highlands Community College. It is scheduled for completion by the end of 1996.
The center was approved by the General Assembly in 1991 as a way of increasing access to higher education in Southwest Virginia. The $9.9 million cost will come from general obligation bond funds approved by Virginia voters in a 1992 referendum.
Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, Clinch Valley College and Virginia Highlands Community College are the main sponsoring institutions. The center will draw on resources from those schools and others to coordinate academic programs taught at the site and by satellite.
``We serve a population that is diverse geographically, but too small in number to support a continuing academic program,'' said Rachel Fowlkes, the center's executive director.
``By matching the area's current and future educational needs with the resources of the state's finest colleges and universities, we can add and modify programs of study according to demand,'' she said.
Courses now are conducted at several Abingdon locations, including the University of Virginia Continuing Education Center. The new building will bring all the programs together under one roof.
The facility will have some of the nation's most modern computer and two-way video systems. By using an extensive fiber-optic network, courses will be made available to the most isolated communities in Southwest Virginia.
The building will include a 13,000-square-foot multipurpose room with moveable partitions, the first of its kind in the region. It will be used for classes, trade shows and exhibitions.
``This facility will be very important in our efforts to serve the region's business and professional community,'' Fowlkes said. ``Currently, there are no comparable high-technology spaces for people to gather, conduct business and participate in retraining programs.''
Fowlkes said the new building will be a vehicle for economic development.
``As the coal industry and its related services shrink during the next 25 years, the need for occupational retraining will become critical. We hope that the center will serve as an incubator of entrepreneurial ideas, which in turn will help create new job opportunities for the citizens of Southwest Virginia,'' she said.
by CNB