The sounds and sights of heavy machinery that are taking hold on the west edge of Canon City this month are signaling another milestone in Pueblo Community College’s history. The first of two phases of site work has begun toward the construction of a new $9.2 million Fremont County Campus on the 55-acre former "Prison Gardens" location.

The first phase of the project will consist of both on-site and off-site improvement work. The on-site work includes the grading of land, demolition of some existing buildings, and the construction of a bridge over a creek that runs through the site. The off-site work refers to the installation of utilities.

The general contractor for the site improvement work is Schrepfer Industries, a Trinidad company that will be using mostly local sub-contractors. Specific on-site work should be completed in early August, while the utility work should be finished in early September. The architect for the new FCC is the Denver firm of Bennett, Wagner and Grody Architects.

The project manager is Alain Dalmau of Heery International of Denver. Dalmau also was the project manger for the renovations of the Health Sciences building and one wing of the Technical Education building that were completed recently on PCC’s Pueblo campus.

Phase two of the project will consist of the actual construction of the new 33,000-square-foot campus building, the architectural drawings for which have been submitted for state approval. Heery International, which is based in Atlanta and has 26 offices worldwide, has requested the pre-approval of all general contractors who are interested in bidding on the job.

The timetable calls for general contractor bids to be submitted in July and actual construction to begin in August. Construction is expected to be completed in August 2001, with fall semester classes to be held at the new campus.

The new FCC will contain classrooms, labs, a library and administrative offices. The classrooms will be constructed to house the large number of computers that are becoming a necessity for modern education. There will be a science wing containing a lab for nursing students. Interactive classrooms will be linked to remote sites to make education more accessible from a distance.

The state has contributed close to $3 million to the project already and earlier this year allocated another $5.3 million to it. The remainder is being raised by a community fund-raising campaign that so far has raised approximately $800,000. Several fund-raising events will be held during the next year. Currently underway is the sale of personally engraved bricks that will be placed in the new campus’ courtyard.

The groundbreaking for the new campus was held on March 11.

The Fremont County Center currently operates out of leased space at the Holy Cross Abbey’s St. Mary’s, Sheeby Hall and St. Joseph’s buildings as well as in the "Annex" in the Fremont Bank building.