Construction on a career technical education building is underway at Hartnell’s College Soledad Education Center, providing diesel technology careers for students.
The two-story, almost 10,000-square-foot building which is located at 1505 Metz Road, will expand the Soledad Education Center, which opened in 2021 and is possible through funding from Measure T. The $167 million facilities bond was approved by Hartnell Community College District voters in 2016 on a commitment to bring college closer to home in South Monterey County.
Out of that funding, about $13 million was used for this project.
“Students don't have to travel to take classes all the way to the Alisal campus,” says Juan Gonzalez, Dean of CTE and Workforce Development. “We're trying to take the classes to them.”
The facility will include a mechanical lab, limited welding bays, instructional support space, lockers and restrooms, a mezzanine storage and 40 parking spaces, according to Michael Gutierrez, superintendent and president of Hartnell College.
Gutierrez adds the construction of the building will end in the Fall of 2027 and classes begin in the Spring of 2028.
Measure T has already delivered the Soledad and Castroville education centers, the King City Education Center expansion and the Nursing and Health Sciences Building at the main Salinas campus.
Soledad Mayor Anna Velazquez, who grew up a few houses from the location of the new building, says the project is also possible “through hope and a vision.”
“Today we're not just breaking ground on a new facility, we're breaking ground on opportunity,” she said at the Thursday, July 16, groundbreaking ceremony.