By RORY MOORE
Tiger Media Network
Fort Hays Tech North Central, partnered with McCown Gordon Construction, broke ground on Tuesday on the site of a new building set to open in Fall 2025. The facility will house the Construction Trades and CDL programs with an emphasis on carpentry, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electricity.
A ceremony commemorating the groundbreaking for the Construction Trades building to be built at Fort Hays Tech North Central. 
Eric Burks, president of FHTNC, believes the new building will better serve students and give them more options through wider programs. 
The concept for the new Construction Trade building is displayed on the site of it’s construction. 
Diana Bauman, Eric Burks, Bob Becker, Sandy Jacobs, Kyle Montoya, Phillip Jordan, Ethan Kriley, Cooper Hosman, Mendi Anschutz, Leigh Purdy-Chamber and Victor E. Tiger break ground to the new building. 
Rep. Barb Wasinger helped approve the project for construction of the building.
Eric Burks, president of FHTNC, hopes the building will give students more opportunities through wider programs.
“It should allow us to double the capacity of those programs,” he said. “We currently have about 20 to 22 in each of those [programs], and we’ll be able to move that up to 40 to 44. It’ll be shop space, along with some classroom space, and some offices.”
The Construction Trade building will be 29,000 square feet, and construction is projected to be finished by August next year.
“These programs have been housed down at the Big Creek facility down on Main Street,” Burks said. “It’s a partnership that we’ve had with the city. So, these programs will be moving out of this building and into the new building.”
In addition to the expanded programs, there will also be a social area at the facility similar to Cody Commons at Fort Hays State University.
“There’ll be a commons area that will be a nice gathering space for our students,” Burks said. “We’re really excited to have more space for them to congregate, get to know each other, and network a little bit.”
Not only is Burks optimistic that students will have more opportunities available with larger programs, but he also sees the new building as a basis for helping students at a greater capacity than the current building and benefiting the state economically.
“We’ll be able to serve a lot more students,” he said. “There’s a housing shortage issue in western and central Kansas, and by having more students go through the program, we’ll be able to have more students that are capable and skilled to go out and work in the construction industry and hopefully keep up with the demand that’s there.”