At a regular meeting held on Thursday, the Carthage Planning Board approved a rezoning request for a new building at the Larry R. Caddell Public Safety Training Center, clearing the way for Sandhills Community College (SCC) to expand its emergency services training facilities.
The college plans to construct a 6,910-square-foot building on a roughly 40-acre parcel already home to the training center. The new project includes 10 parking spaces, two of which will be handicapped-accessible, and will make use of an existing driveway already on site.
According to college representatives, the building will house two classrooms for about 30 students each and a larger classroom that can accommodate between 50 and 60 students. The facility is intended to improve training for public safety and emergency personnel across the region at the already-existing training center off Niagara Carthage Road.
The college describes the Larry R. Caddell Public Safety Training Center as “a permanent training center for local fire departments, emergency rescue services and law enforcement agencies through the College’s Continuing Education division.”
William Stanton submitted the application on behalf of SCC, and he noted that the project had already passed review by the Technical Review Committee and that the site plan was complete; all that was needed was approval for rezoning.
SCC provided a map detailing the location of the new building compared to existing structures and roadways.
Board member John Ferrari said that he visited the site twice in recent days and found no issues. “I walked the site on Tuesday, I walked the site on Sunday, I was looking for something wrong with it, and I couldn’t find anything,” he said, laughing.
When asked about the timeline, college officials said they expect to seek contractor bids within the next few months, with groundbreaking to follow shortly afterward. The estimated construction timeline is about one year, with completion likely by next summer.
The request passed with little discussion, and the meeting concluded in under 20 minutes.
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~ Article by Sandhills Sentinel Assistant Editor Abegail Murphy. Photos via Sandhills Community College and Carthage Planning Board.
