Collin College drew hundreds of well-wishers and participants to a pair of major events in September. The college celebrated a groundbreaking at the Collin College Technical Campus in Allen and a ribbon cutting at the Public Safety Training Center in McKinney.
About 300 people turned out for a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Collin College Technical Campus site, Sept. 7. The rainy weather which had slowed earthwork at the property for the week prior and threatened to cancel the groundbreaking cleared just long enough to mark the occasion.
Dr. J. Robert Collins, Collin College Board of Trustees chairman, and Collin College President Dr. Neil Matkin were joined by Allen Mayor Stephen Terrell, Allen Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Scott Niven, Allen ISD Board Chairwoman Amy Gnadt and Allen Economic Development Corporation Board President Michael Schaeffer, as each spoke about their hopes for the campus.
“This project is testament to partnership,” Dr. Matkin said. “It is a testament to partnership between the four ISDs who will be sending students here to complete technical certifications, diplomas and degrees. It is testament to the partnership between Collin College and the Allen Economic Development Corporation. And it’s a partnership between Collin College and Allen ISD.
“We are very excited about the programs that are going to be coming here.”
Superintendent Scott Niven added, “This speaks to the innovation of entities working together for the betterment of students, for the community and for all-around future growth in the area.”
Located along Highway 121 just east of Exchange Parkway in Allen, the Collin College Technical Campus will provide career and technical education in workforce areas including automotive, construction, health care, information technology and manufacturing. Designed with input from advisory committees composed of professionals in each of those areas, the campus will allow students to train for careers on the same technology they will encounter on the job.
The CCTC helps fulfill a strategic goal set by the Collin College Board of Trustees to develop programs and facilities to meet the needs of high-growth and high-wage occupations expected for the area in the coming decades. The 340,000 square-foot facility will serve up to 7,100 Collin College students, including dual credit students from surrounding districts when it is completed in 2020.
See more photos from the groundbreaking here.
More than 350 people, including dozens of police and firefighters from around the state celebrated the ceremonial opening of the Public Safety Training Center in McKinney on Sept. 28.
The day began with a ceremonial presentation of the colors by a combined honor guard made up of members of the Allen Fire Department, Allen Police Department, McKinney Fire Department and McKinney Police Department, as Sgt. Robert Bernard of the Collin College Police Department performed “The Star Spangled Banner.” The day was full of memorable moments including the presentation, by State Representative Scott Sanford, of a Texas flag which had flown over the state capitol and performances by The North Texas Public Safety Pipes and Drums. The group of police and firefighters, playing bagpipes and marching drums, accompanied key moments in the ceremony.
After the ceremony, guests were allowed to explore the PSTC and observe demonstrations in the reality-based training center, firearms ranges and burn buildings. Hundreds watched as firefighters demonstrated the technique for combating a car fire and a kitchen fire, walked around a display of police and fire vehicles and petted the horses of local mounted patrols.
Speakers at the event included Drs. Collins and Matkin, as well as Mayor Terrell of Allen, Mayor George Fuller of McKinney, McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley, McKinney Fire Chief Danny Kistner and Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey. Each provided his own take on the facility’s expected impact on public safety for Collin County and the area at large.
“It’s not just Allen and McKinney that benefit from this,” Chief Conley said. “It’s all the law enforcement and fire service personnel from around the county and the North Texas area.”
Chief Kistner lauded the inter-agency training opportunities that the facility will provide. And Chief Harvey noted the support from the community that the construction of a facility like the PSTC must indicate.
Designed with reality-based training as a guiding concept, the Public Safety Training Center is one of the most advanced emergency services training facilities in the state. Built in partnership with the cities of McKinney and Allen, the facility is the new home of Collin College’s law enforcement and fire science academies, and a training ground for current police and firefighters to learn new techniques and seek certifications. The facility has been in operation since August, when the first law enforcement academy classes began.
A video of some of the training options available at the PSTC was played during the ceremony leading up the ribbon cutting. You can watch it here. You can see more images from the ribbon cutting here.
The final major ceremonial event of the fall is the groundbreaking for the Wylie Campus on Friday, Oct. 19. That facility is also slated to be complete in 2020 and is one of the final pieces of this first phase of the college’s Master Plan.