MARCH 6 12, 2023 SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL 7 NEWS $36M Table Rock Career Center to open in 2024 by Mike Cullinan · mcullinan@sbj.net A groundbreaking earlier this year started the clock for construction of a multimillion-dollar career center in Reeds Spring that will nearly double the size of the existing facility that has served the community for nearly 50 years. The Reeds Spring School District broke ground Jan. 27 on the roughly $36 million Table Rock Career Center, a project targeted for completion by August 2024, said Superintendent Cody Hirschi. It was made possible by voters approving a $40 million no-tax increase bond issue in April 2022. “What we’re seeing is just a lot of excitement about how our center and the expansion of programming will impact workforce development,” said Hirschi, now in his fourth year with the school district. Since 1974, the district has operated its career center out of the Gibson Technical Center at 386 W. State Highway 76. At roughly 44,000 square feet, o cials say the current center is outdated and struggles to meet the demand from students wanting to participate in its dozen programs, such as computer technology, early childhood education and automotive collision. Around 400 students from 11 surrounding school districts utilize the 49-year-old building, said Gibson Technical Center co-director Brian Moler. “The teachers and students we have here now are so excited about the prospect of having a new place,” Moler said. “They’re excited about the idea of what the future holds. Our teachers are excited about being able to move into a modern facility with more space and the ability to serve more kids. “The people we have here are very passionate about getting kids out into the workforce, getting kids work-ready to build upon skills to establish as careers and things they’ll use for the rest of their lives.” DeWitt & Associates Inc. is general contractor for the new 80,000-square-foot career center, designed by Dake Wells Architecture Inc. The two companies also served as contractor and designer for the $12 million Dallas County Technical Center, which opened in 2021, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. At capacity Moler, who will become Gibson Technical Center’s sole director for the 2023-24 school year following the retirement of co-director Nick Thieman, said the facility has experienced a 40% enrollment increase in the last 10 years. He said five of its programs – construction technology, welding, automotive technology, emergency medical technician and culinary arts – all have waitlists. “There’s kids from our sending schools wanting to take classes here, get certified in our programs, that we’re having to turn away just because we’re at full capacity,” Moler said. Aside from Reeds Spring, the Gibson center serves school districts in Christian, Stone and Taney counties. They are Blue FRONT AND CENTER The Table Rock Career Center is expected to be open for the 2024-25 school year. Cody HirschI: The future of the Gibson Technical Center remains unknown. Facility will replace existing tech school, Reeds Spring o cials say See SCHOOL on page 39 provided by REEDS SPRING SCHOOL DISTRICT info@bluebirdnetwork.com bluebirdnetwork.com 1-855-BLUEBIRD INTERNET • Dedicated Internet Access • Burstable Bandwidth • DDOS Mi�tga�on • Resilient Architecture NETWORK • Ethernet • Dark Fiber • Wavelengths DATA CENTER • Coloca�on • Private Suites • Remote Hands • Mul�ple Internet Exchanges CLOUD • Cloud Connect • Private Connec�ons • Hybrid Solu�ons REALLY INVESTED IN WHAT WE’RE DOING. THEY CONNECT THE DOTS THAT IF WE ARE SUCCESSFUL, THEY ARE SUCCESSFUL. -A BLUEBIRD CUSTOMER I FIND THAT THE STAFF HERE ARE SCAN HERE TO VISIT THE BLUEBIRD UNDERGROUND DATA CENTER FROM YOUR PHONE!
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