The Beaufort County Community College broken ground for the largest public driving pad in North Carolina.
“We serve four counties–2,100 square miles, the largest footprint of any community college in North Carolina–and we serve EMS, fire and law enforcement agencies in all four of these, from Old Ford to Ocracoke,” BCCC President Dave Loope said in a statement.
The BCCC’s board of trustees awarded construction of the bond-funded project to B.E. Singleton & Sons in February. The BCCC will use the public services driving pad, part of its emergency training and workforce complex, to train emergency medical personnel, firefighters and law enforcement officers earning certifications at the college, as well as from across the state.
“This is a state-of-the-art installation for North Carolina; the largest public driving pad in the state. It’s going to do a lot of good for a lot of people, not just in our four-county region, but we’re going to be able to offer it to people from around the east, and, indeed, over to Raleigh and beyond to come and do training here. It’s really a dramatic step forward for us with respect to our training capabilities here on campus,” Loope added.
The 500′ x 600′ pad will have a 400′ x 40′ pursuit lane and stadium lighting to enable nighttime training. The project includes a stormwater retention pond and will be built on a cotton field on the east side of the BCCC campus between Building 12 and the fire training facility.
The college expects to complete the project by November 2019.