Location: 1505 Metz Road, next to the Hartnell College Soledad Education Center.
Description: A new, roughly 9,700-square-foot, two-story career technical education facility that will serve as the dedicated home of Hartnell College’s Advanced Diesel Technology program.
The project is funded through Measure T, a $167 million facilities bond district voters approved in November 2016.
At a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, July 16, Hartnell College Superintendent/President Michael Gutierrez welcomed students, faculty, staff, trustees, donors, community members and elected officials from across the Salinas Valley.
“Today, we deliver on a promise,” Gutierrez said. “Ten years later, we are still putting the voters’ investment to work, expanding what is possible for the students of South County. This building is designed to prepare our students to be work ready, and it offers our community something more than a facility. It brings hope.”
Once complete, the new technical education facility, designed by In Studio Architecture, will include a diesel and heavy-equipment training shop, classrooms, a mechanical lab, welding bays, instructional support space, tool and material storage, offices, lockers and restrooms, mezzanine storage, and 40 new parking stalls.
State Sen. John Laird said the project answers several regional pressures.
“Enrollment has declined across the state, the economy is changing constantly, and community colleges have had to become more entrepreneurial to meet it,” Laird said. “All of that comes into play here. The voters stepped up. This project addresses enrollment, it addresses job training, and it moves students toward where the economy actually is.”
The new facility responds to long-standing demand for skilled diesel and heavy-equipment technicians across the Salinas Valley’s agriculture, transportation and logistics industries. Students will train on the lift systems, diagnostic tools and shop equipment used in the field.
Measure T, a voter approved initiative to modernize and expand Hartnell College’s facilities was passed in 2016. Since then, it has funded facilities, including education centers in Soledad, Castroville and King City as well as a nursing and allied health center at Hartnell College’s main campus in Salinas.
History: The city of Soledad contributed 3.7 acres of land for the Hartnell College Soledad Education Center, which opened in 2021.
When will the work be done? The facility is targeted to open October 2027, with the first Advanced Diesel Technology and welding classes offered in spring 2028.
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: What’s that going in at 1505 Metz Road in Soledad?
Reporting by Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian / Salinas Californian
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian | USA TODAY Network
