Barton Community College invites students, faculty, staff, and community members to a celebratory groundbreaking event for the College’s new Ag and Transportation Complex at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 28 at the future site of the complex on the east side of campus. Parking will be available in the east lot outside of the Technical Building.

Upon completion, the facility will be home to new classrooms for high-demand programs including Agriculture Business Management, Crop Protection, Beef Cattle Production, and Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). It will also house the highly anticipated Case New Holland (CNH) Top Tech Industrial Training program.

The estimated construction cost of $3.6 million is funded by a 1:1 matching grant of federal stimulus funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) issued by the Kansas Department of Commerce and private donations. The State of Kansas has also approved tax credits to be used for capital improvements by community and technical colleges. These 60 percent tax credits are available first-come, first-served.

Harbin Construction out of Salina was awarded the contract for the project and will begin construction immediately. The project is projected to be completed in early 2024.