Wake Tech breaks ground on 6th campus
WAKE COUNTY (WTVD) -- Wake Technical Community College broke ground on its sixth campus Wednesday.
The new facility is going up in the Research Triangle Park area on Chapel Hill Road in Morrisville.
The community college is the largest in the state - already serving 70,000 students - but the new location will offer a higher education option to more people in western Wake County.
It will be 28 acres, and plans call for the campus to accommodate 1,350 students, a three story building, and 720 parking spaces.
The campus is expected to open in 2018 - offering instruction in computer programming, business administration and other technical programs.
The governor, the Town of Morrisville's mayor, the chair of Wake Tech's Board of Trustees and county commissioners all took part in Wednesday's groundbreaking.
"Demand has exploded for skilled resources in our region and in our country," said Wake Tech Board of Trustees Chair Thomas Looney. "This campus was created to fulfill those demands. To drive sustained economic development and provide high paying jobs for the citizens of Wake County."
Governor Pat McCrory said the technical instruction available at the campus once phase one is completed will have a ripple effect across North Carolina.
"This is going to help us recruit new industries, not just to RTP, but to the entire region, and the entire state," he said.
The governor added that graduates of the new campus will help make the state's computer systems more secure.
