AIKEN, S.C. () – Aiken Technical College broke ground on school’s soon-to-be Nursing Education Center on Monday, May 19.

The 30,000 square-foot building will include skills and simulation labs, space for auditorium-style seating, and additional faculty office space. The project is a $23 million-dollar investment, with $11 million coming from funds South Carolina received in the SRS settlement. 

“Right now, we share spaces, we share spaces with other health sciences programs in Allied Health,” said Dr. Hannah Williams, dean of nursing. It gives us the space that we need to bring in more nurses we could increase our regular enrollment therefore help meet the demands of our community.”

“The collaborative effort of working with our legislative delegation who were instrumental in getting a large amount of the money for the building for us through the settlement dollars has been something that really gave us the opportunity to build this 30,000 square foot facility,” said Dr. Forest Mahan, president of Aiken Technical College. “It will be state of the art it will be something that will free up space in other buildings for other programs so we can look at other expansions in healthcare.”

According to Aiken Tech, the new nursing center will be the focal point of the campus and take about 18 months to build.

Photojournalist credit: Gary Hipps