The new Dining and Events Center at Barton Community College’s Camp Aldrich should be finished by the end of this month, Dean of Administration Mark Dean told college trustees Tuesday afternoon.
People were working at the site even as trustees met for their monthly study session.
“We did the punch list Monday,” Dean said. “They’re getting really close.”
Dean checks the construction site often and earlier reported a problem with the main floor, which is supposed to be polished concrete. After the floor was poured, it was visibly “wavy,” Dean said.
“It’s fairly level now and it looks better,” Dean told trustees. “You won’t notice it now.”
Final work is being done on the elevator and fire extinguishing system, and a lot of small items  have to be delivered. However, the facility is expected to be ready for events this spring.
Camp Aldrich has been closed since its dining hall burned down in April of 2014. It has long been the preferred venue of Camp Hope, a camp for children with cancer. For the past two years, Camp Hope has moved to the BCC campus.
The fire also halted plans in 2014 to hold the BCC Foundation’s Sporting Clay Shoot fundraiser there.
Camp Hope and the Clay Shoot are both scheduled to take place this year at the site.
“Camp Hope people love it,” Dean said of the new facility.
Another building discussed Tuesday was the One Stop Center at 1025 Main. The building is owned by the college and houses the Educational Opportunity Center, Adult Education Center and RSVP office, as well as the Kansas Jobs Service Center.
Dean said the state signed a new two-year lease on the building last July, but he warned trustees that there has been talk of downsizing the Job Services Center in the future.
College trustees also learned about a contract they will be asked to approve in the future, for technology in Barton’s Adult Education program at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility. The two-year contract with American Prison Data Systems is for $101,100, but it will be paid for with grant money. Among the services offered: tablet devices with 24/7 monitoring.
Trustees also learned more about the schedule for an upcoming board retreat at Grandview Plaza, and the Feb. 11 trip to Topeka for the Phi Theta Kappa honor society’s Capitol visit & award luncheon. Barton’s top students will get to meet legislators.