By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Barton Community College received two bids to complete the construction
for their new Ag Technology Center. Harbin Construction, based in Salina,
submitted the low bid of $3,214,150 and was approved by the college’s Board
of Trustees on Tuesday. Hutton Construction provided the other bid for $3,374,000.
The 14,000-square-foot facility will house a 50-credit-hour Top Tech Program
in the fall of 2023 that will provide training to become technicians for Case
New Holland.
Barton Vice President of Administration Mark Dean said the process to begin
construction is just around the corner.
"We'll get the contract signed with Harbin," said Dean. "They'll get with all the subcontractors and get started. We're talking about a groundbreaking but we're not sure when that will actually be. We're just waiting on paperwork to come from Harbin so they can actually get going."
Subcontractors for the project will include Hammeke Electric, Comfort Pro, Devine Masonry, Alliance, Esfeld Construction, Jimlo Glass, C&E Doors and Joiner Construction.
Barton was awarded an ARPA grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce for the
development of the complex. The federal award is a matching grant of $1.8
million. The Barton Community College Foundation has been working to raise the
matching funds and currently has $561,200 from private donations. Fundraising will
continue throughout the project. Since the project started a few years ago with the concept, architectural and engineering fees are not included with the Harbin bid.
The facility will house the Top Tech program along with the CDL program, crop
protection, and animal science program.
The new facility will be located on the east side of campus, just behind Community Christian Church.