Fletcher closes land purchase

Christmas came early this year for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS). The purchase of the first 32.2 acres of a new 74.2-acre campus for L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College officially closed Dec. 22.

The property buy was funded by Act 391 bond proceeds authorized during the 2007 Legislative Session. The bond package carries a $173.7 million price tag and includes 23 projects for 14 community and technical colleges throughout the state.

“The Act 391 bond sales are essential to the future of higher education in Louisiana. Over the past 10 years, the LCTCS has received funding for only two facilities through the normal capital outlay process. Both the governor and the Legislature recognized that the traditional process was not meeting the needs of the fastest growing system of higher education in the nation,” said LCTCS President Dr. Joe May in a press release in October.

“…We would not be in a position to sell the bonds if it were not for the leadership of Gov. Bobby Jindal. Realizing the importance of each of these projects, Gov. Jindal put in place a structure to ensure that the bonds would be sold in a timeframe that ensured that all projects would be completed,” he continued.

Around $2.6 million in Community Block Development Grants was secured to help buy the remaining 38.6 acres needed to build the new campus.

In a release, LCTCS Facilities Corporation President Stevie Smith said, “We are very pleased to be moving forward with this process and are thrilled that we will be able to provide a state-of-the-art facility for Fletcher students to attend.

“We’re confident that this facility will provide what is necessary for the future of Fletcher and its continuing service to the community and to local business and industry that are in need of a solid, trained workforce.”

The remaining bond projects will begin with two additional phases starting in August of 2010 and 2011. Officials said construction on the new Fletcher campus would begin sometime in 2010.

The site for the new campus is located on La. Highway 311, close to U.S. Highway 90. Its strategic location will allow ready access from Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption, St. James and St. Charles parishes.

A site selection committee comprised of an architect for the Board of Regents, the facilities director of LCTCS, an engineer from Facility Planning and Control and Fletcher’s chancellor, approved the location in December 2008.

According to school officials, record enrollment numbers in recent years have resulted in the need for a new campus. This past fall, enrollment reached 1,800.

Fletcher was also recently named the 29th fastest growing community college in the nation by Community College Week among schools with less than 2,500 students.

In the release, May also said the new campus would help the college in its ongoing mission to train Louisiana’s future workforce and provide an outstanding education to area residents.

Fletcher’s Chancellor Travis Lavigne noted, “The expansion could not have come at a more appropriate time; it will allow Fletcher, in coordination with our local university, to broaden the post secondary opportunities and services for students and business in our region.”