Coordinating commission approves new ag facilities at NECC

LINCOLN — New facilities to replace nearly 100 year-old buildings will be constructed at Northeast Community College. During Tuesday’s meeting of the Northeast Board of Governors, it was reported that the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education (CCPE) has approved programming statements for a new Veterinary Technology building and a Farm Operations and Large Animal building.

In its report, CCPE commissioners said, “This project would replace obsolete existing facilities to meet the needs of the students at (Northeast’s) Norfolk Campus.”

“While our faculty and staff have maintained these buildings to the best of their ability, our current agriculture facilities do not align well with providing a proper atmosphere for our agricultural students,” said Steve Schram, co interim president. “These new facilities that are Phase One of the new Agriculture and Water Center of Excellence will enhance opportunities for students in several of our ag programs. The coordinating commission’s action reaffirms the hard work of members on the project team and gets us to where we need to be today.”

The new 36,000 square foot Veterinary Technology facility and the 15,000 square foot Large Animal and Farm Operations building will be constructed near the College’s Chuck M. Pohlman Agriculture Complex, approximately one-mile east of the main campus in Norfolk.

The existing Veterinary Technology program is currently located in two facilities. Faculty offices, one classroom, and a pathology class laboratory are currently located in 2,600 square feet of space in the Agriculture and Allied Health building on the main campus. The program’s clinic is located on the College farm in a building originally constructed in 1920 as part of the working farm for the Norfolk Regional Center.