MOSES LAKE — A groundbreaking ceremony for the new workforce education building at Big Bend Community College tentatively is scheduled for the week of May 14. Linda Schoonmaker, BBCC vice president of finance and administration, said construction should start sometime in May or early June. “Any time we can probably see a (construction) fence go up. And that will be exciting.”

And as construction ramps up, BBCC officials will be looking for donations to help finish portions of the project.

“We are going to be watching our pennies and looking for money wherever we can find it,” Schoonmaker said.

College officials awarded the $42.8 million contract to Lydig Construction, Spokane. Schoonmaker said the bid was about $5 million over the estimate, and didn’t include the options for finishing the second floor.

But there will be a second floor, even if it’s a work in progress. “The second floor will get built. It just won’t get finished.” The plumbing and electrical systems, the additional infrastructure, will be completed, but the rest of the work must wait.

In the meantime, the BBCC Foundation will be working to raise money to finish the project. “There will be lots of naming rights available.” College officials recently commissioned a study to determine the potential of the foundation to raise money for the project, and determined the maximum would be about $3.7 million.

College officials will also be looking for grants that will help plug the gap, Schoonmaker said.

“It’s going to be a fabulous building.” Workshops for the automotive, welding, fabrication, maintenance mechanics and industrial systems technology programs will be located on the building’s first floor, with computer science and transfer-degree STEM programs on the second floor, when it’s finished. Four classrooms will be part of the first floor. The stairs and elevator to the second floor will be completed.

The project also includes a new facility for the aviation maintenance program, which will be located next to the program's current building.

Because of the way the building was funded, BBCC officials will be required to demolish some of the buildings currently housing workforce education programs. State officials “won’t consider the project complete until they’re down.”

The Lydig Construction bid includes demolition of the existing automotive program building, but BBCC officials will have to pay for demolition of the other buildings, Schoonmaker said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].