Proposal sets priorities, seeks funding
In an effort to show its commitment to upgrading facilities, Coahoma Community College chief of physical plant Jerone Shaw presented the $56 million five-year capital improvement plan to the board during the recent September meeting.
The plan outlines priorities for the years 2021 to 2025, but all of the ideas are goals and dreams that may or may not come to fruition.
“We’re realistic,” Shaw said. “We know we can’t do everything that’s there, but we have been fortunate. A lot of the things that we have had on five-year capital improvement plans happened, including this building, so we’ve got a dream.”
Shaw said the No. 1 priority when he presented the plan one year ago was upgrading Curry Hall. The Department of Business and Computer Information Systems is located in Curry Hall.
“We did not have a project number, a project name and an initial budget for Curry Hall’s renovation,” Shaw said.
The top priority for 2021 in the plan is improving the Zee A. Barron Student Union.
The capital improvement plan packet Shaw passed out lists the student union at 45,002 square feet. The project will address ceiling and floor tile replacement; expanding the student dining area; altering the old bookstore area; exterior and interior door/window replacement; mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems upgrade; safety issues; restroom renovations; and a general caulking and painting of paintable surfaces.
The No. 2 priority for 2021 is the Dickerson Johnson Library Learning Resources Center. The top priority for 2022 is the Lee Flowers Vocational Tech-nical Building and No. 2 is Frank McCune High School Building.
The No. 1 priority for 2023 is the Ned W. Cartwright Workforce Development Center and No. 2 is a new dormitory.
The Sandy Bayou High School Building is No. 1 for 2024 and the A.M. Strange High School Building is No. 2.
A new music/theater building is the No. 1 priority for 2025; an indoor practice facility for baseball, softball and track is No. 2; and a new track is No. 3.
“We know that these cost estimates could change once the projects are implemented, so what we’re dealing with is an OPC – an opinion of probable cost,” Shaw said.
“The state is asking us to give our top five projects. We have a lot of other dreams.”
Shaw said a new dormitory is a priority for many of the students on campus.
“At this point, we really don’t have any idea what the dorm would look like,” he said.
Shaw said the new dormitory should be V-shaped with females in one area, males in another and a common wing.
He also talked about how the workforce center could grow.
“We want to expand that building,” Shaw said.
Shaw said a potential new track would not be on the football field and CCC would have to purchase additional land.
“Of course, if you could do all that (in the capital improvement plan), we’d need $56 million,” Shaw said.
Shaw estimated everything would cost $225 per square foot. One year ago, his estimate was it would be $250 per square foot, but he has continued to check different prices.
“These are just estimates,” Shaw said.
Following Shaw’s presentation, CCC President Dr. Valmadge Towner talked about some of the challenges the school faces raising money.
“What happens is, unfortunately, people like to give to things where they receive a lot of recognition,” Towner said. “A small rural community college is not, many times, as appealing.”
Towner said it is important to make CCC appealing.
He cited several high profile donors who have been to Clarksdale and not come on campus.
Towner remained encouraged and believes CCC can find ways to raise the necessary money to make some of the dreams become realities.
“We’re not disheartened,” he said. “We’re motivated to make it happen.”
