Sioux City Career Academy’s new construction trades building is halfway complete.
The addition to the Harry Hopkins Center along Business Highway 75 is set for completion in July. Students will be able to start enrolling in the program in a few weeks.
The 12,000-square-foot building is intended to provide a controlled environment for students to build two houses simultaneously. It is a fairly simple building with two large bays for the houses and a classroom. The main facility is built, with some exterior items and the interior left to complete.
Over two years, students will build a 1,300 to 1,400-square-foot house and learn introductory construction, HVAC, electrical and plumbing trades.
“Right now we just don’t have that opportunity for [students] to experience those trades hands-on in our classrooms,” said Katie Towler, principal of the Sioux City Career Academy. “This kind of opens the doors to a whole other world.”
In June, the school board accepted a $3.8 million bid from H&R Construction of South Sioux City for the project. The total cost will be $4.15 million, including architectural and engineering fees
The official planning for this project started more than three years ago.
The Sioux City Community School District graduates roughly 1,000 students a year, Jim Vanderloo, director of secondary education said. The district’s goal is to prepare those students to have a plan or goal in mind for the future.
Click here to read the full article by The Sioux City Journal's Caitlin Yamada.
Photo courtesy of Caitlin Yamada.