CHESAPEAKE
Tidewater Community College dedicated on Monday a 30,690-square-foot Regional Automotive Center.
But college officials skipped the typical ribbon cutting, opting instead to drive a 2009 Acura through the ribbon.
The facility, located in Oakbrooke Business and Technology Center, just north of Great Bridge, replaces the previous center that was about one-tenth the size, a building that TCC was renting in the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake.
The new center cost $10.1 million, including equipment and furnishings. The city of Chesapeake provided 6.1 acres and some funding.
The center has 15 garage bays, including one large enough to handle a tractor-trailer. It has nine classrooms, conference facilities and a showroom to display student projects. It serves 404 students enrolled in the automotive program.
"We can actually teach the students without compromise," said Bud Brueggeman, head of TCC's automotive technology program. "There's nothing that we don't have or can't do."
The center has the support of the Hampton Roads automotive community, and several dealerships serve on the program's 32-member advisory board.
Scott Smith, president of the Hampton Roads Automobile Dealers Association, presented a check for $20,000 to the program, the first installment of a $100,000 donation the organization has pledged to the school.
TCC president Deborah DiCroce noted the new school won the 2009 Design Excellence for Architecture Award from the Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The building was designed by Clark Nexsen Architecture & Engineering of Norfolk.
Classes have been held in the new school since Thursday.
Larry Printz, (757) 446-2220, larry.printz@pilotonline.com
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