OTC continues campus expansion with ITTC

by Maria G. Hoover

SBJ Contributing Writer

Ozarks Technical Community College was named Developer of the Year earlier this month, and officials at the school said development will continue to move forward on the campus.

Brian King, vice president of administration and business, said the latest major project people will notice along Chestnut Expressway is the Industrial Training and Transportation Center.

King said the ITTC is a 101,000-square-foot building scheduled for completion this summer. He said the facility was made possible by last November's election, during which voters gave the school an additional 5 cents on its tax levy.

"Community support during that election allowed OTC to match state funds for the construction of that building," King said. He added that the ITTC will house automotive programs that are now in Lincoln Hall.

"Automotive programs, auto body repair, manufacturing, heating and air conditioning, greenhouse and the diesel program will be in the ITTC. The new facility will be more modern with better access to technology," he said.

King added that, following completion of the ITTC, the next major project will be the renovation of Lincoln Hall, scheduled for completion in summer 2001. Lincoln Hall will house allied health courses that are now held in space at North Town Mall and Cox Medical Center North.

"All operations in Springfield will be centralized on this campus," King said.

King said the master plan for the campus was approved by the city, and he noted that there is a study being conducted to determine the best location for a satellite campus.

King attributed much of the school's growth and development to Dr. Norman Myers, who's been president of OTC since October 1990.

Myers said the goal for the school has always been to have a consolidated campus in Springfield. He said once it was decided to build the campus off the Graff Vocational Technical facility, the school has acquired the necessary land piece by piece.

Myers added that because of the site chosen for the Springfield campus, the idea of a satellite campus is nothing new to school officials.

"Way back when the board decided to establish the main campus here on approximately 38 acres, we knew we'd be landlocked in 10 or 12 years. The board committed at that time that there would be another campus at some point," Myers said.

However, Myers noted that the study, which will look at population and demographics to determine a location for a satellite campus, should be finished late this year or early in 2000. He said a satellite campus won't likely be ready for student use until 2003 or 2004.

Myers said the local campus has opened a new facility a year. In 1997, the Technical Education Center opened