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Bidding on College Building in Downtown Rockingham to Begin this Spring

Feb 13

Feb. 13, 2018 – Bidding for the construction of Richmond Community College’s Kenneth and Claudia Robinette Building will begin this spring, which will mark the official start to the project that will bring a college facility to downtown Rockingham.

This collaboration between the City of Rockingham, Richmond County and the College will house the Leon Levine School of Business and Information Technology at the intersection of Franklin and Lee streets, which includes the property commonly known as the RW Goodman Building.

“We’re excited to have a time table established for this project and for it to get underway,” Dr. Dale McInnis said at the College’s Board of Trustee meeting on Feb. 6. “The latest date for advertising bids is mid-May, and we will be awarding a bid by early to mid-August.”

Construction is projected to take a year to complete, opening to students Fall Semester 2019. The facility will house college curriculum programs for business and technology, as well as programs and services for the Small Business Center and Workforce and Economic Development division.

Simulation Hospital

RichmondCC also received approval from FirstHealth to move forward with its plan to create a simulation facility at the former Moore Regional Hospital – Hamlet, which is adjacent to the College’s main campus in Hamlet.

Projected to open in the fall, the facility will give RichmondCC nursing students more hands-on opportunities with lifelike robotic simulators, allowing them to put classroom theory into practice without causing harm to real-life patients.

The simulation hospital will also benefit RichmondCC’s nursing program if it receives the specialized national accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). This accreditation would allow the nursing department to use simulation in 50 percent of clinicals. Currently, the North Carolina Board of Nursing limits the use of simulation in clinicals to 25 percent of the 96 hours per semester.

“We’ve been talking about this simulation hospital with FirstHealth for about a year, and they are very committed to this project and its potential to help the nursing shortage,” McInnis said. “It will also impact the quality of nurses we are sending out into the healthcare facilities in our area.”

McInnis said the College is already thinking of innovative ways its other health science programs can use the facility, including Allied Health and Human Services Technology.

Anniversary Gala

It was also announced at the board meeting that former Board of Trustee J.C. Lamm has been named the RichmondCC Foundation’s Distinguished Citizen of the Year. Lamm was one of the first employees hired by the College after it was established in 1964 as Richmond Technical Institute. Lamm worked for the college for 17½ years, retiring from his position as Director of Student Services in 1983. He continued to serve the College for two decades as a Board of Trustee.

Lamm will be honored by the RichmondCC Foundation at the Anniversary Gala on Saturday, April 14, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Cole Auditorium. The Gala is the Foundation’s annual fundraiser for the Working Scholarship program, which provides scholarships to working college students who do not qualify for financial aid.

For sponsorship or ticket information, contact Shuler at (910) 410-1807 or email whshuler@richmondcc.edu.