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Benton Area Chamber of Commerce

November 26, 2019 By Shelli Poole

Planners of CTE School pick CDI for construction; just under $28 million

by

A Saline County committee held a bid opening recently for the upcoming CTE school. The is development of a 134,069 SF building on a 22-acre site in Benton near exit 114. The committee picked CDI Contractors to do the construction, with a bid to get it done in 515 days for $27,899,000. The end cost of the center is estimated to be around $40 million.

CDI is known for many large projects around Arkansas, including the Riverside Park, Roller Alcoa Funeral Home, Pinecrest Funeral Home, Heifer International Headquarters, renovation and expansion of Robinson Center, and more.

CTE stands for Career and Technical Education. The school was an idea that began several years ago, with cooperation between the Saline County Economic Development Corporation (SCEDC), along with leaders of local school districts, cities, state legislators and the county judge. Lamont Cornwell of the SCEDC said that he observed the same type of school in Frisco, Texas, that eventually was the reason Toyota located a plant in that city – they needed skilled workers and the school made sure there were plenty.

In Saline County, the CTE school will serve students from Bauxite, Benton, Bryant, Glen Rose, Harmony Grove and Sheridan school districts. Students will be able to take classes related to careers while they are enrolled in high school. The following list is an example of the type of classes that will be available:

  • STEM Welding
  • Manufacturing and metal labs
  • Automotive repair
  • HVAC and refrigeration
  • Health sciences, medical assisting, nursing
  • Info tech, computer engineering, network, programming, gaming
  • AV tech, digital communications & graphics, multi-media communications

On November 6, 2018, Saline County residents voted for a sales tax of 3/8 cents that will sunset when the school has been paid off.

See the gallery of architectural images below,
including a 3-dimensional fly-by animation,
and see previous articles and related video
at https://www.mysaline.com/cte-school.

PREVIOUSLY – JUN 18, 2019

CTE School’s Planning Team Reveals Architectural Plans; Goal to Open in 2021

The team that has been planning for the new Career Technical Education center in Saline County revealed the architectural plans to the public today.

It’s been several years in the making, and has required legislation, a county election, partnerships between elected officials, school administrations and other leaders in the community. The Saline County Economic Development Corporation (SCEDC), Saline County Judge, College of the Ouachitas (COTO), and Arkansas State University (ASU) System came together on Tuesday to update the public on the status of the career technical education campus coming to Benton, on the northwest corner of Interstate 30 and Exit 114, just west of Mountain View Road.

What we will have in the fall of 2021 is a county-owned structure, staffed by College of the Ouachitas (which recently became part of the ASU System), with operating costs paid by the local school districts. It will be used for instruction on automotive, construction, HVACR, welding, medical professions, anatomy/physiology and information technology, that high school students will be able to attend concurrently with their other high school classes.

See the gallery of architectural images below,
including a 3-dimensional fly-by animation,
and see previous articles and related video
at https://www.mysaline.com/cte-school.

Read all the articles about the CTE School in Saline County Arkansas www.mysaline.com/cte-school.