CVCC facility on hold until 2009

By Christa Desrets

Published: June 18, 2008

The new Central Virginia Community College branch in Amherst will open in January 2009 instead of this fall, according to college officials.

“Originally we had planned to open up mid fall, and that was really a soft date,” said Stan Shoun, the college’s vice president of workforce development and continuing education. “The next opportune time is the beginning of then next semester. Everything is still a go, and we’re looking forward to opening up down there.”

Don Sutton, the college’s vice president for institutional advancement, said the delay stems from architecture and engineering plans for the building.

Although that means a slight delay in the start of classes there, he said, CVCC’s main center in Lynchburg plans to offer the Early College program for Amherst County high school students this fall.

The program allows students to take classes at the community college that fulfill high school requirements while also earning an associate’s degree. Early College programs already are in place in Bedford and Appomattox counties.

The first semester of that program for Amherst students will be provided at the main center, and will be moved to the Amherst Center once it opens, Sutton said.

Starting next month, he said, the county will accept bids for needed renovations at the site, a former pharmacy in Mountainview Plaza, on Richmond Highway in Amherst.

That construction is scheduled to run for about four months before CVCC takes control of the building for an additional 60-day period for finishing work.

During that period late this year, Sutton said, the school likely will open the building for accepting applications and other pre-enrollment services.

School officials previously have said they hope to attract 250 students to the site.

Plans for the center have been in the works for at least three years but had not moved forward because of a lack of funding until March. That’s when Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, sponsored a $300,000 appropriation from the General Assembly.

The Amherst Center will be the community college’s fifth satellite branch. In addition to the school’s main campus in Lynchburg, centers currently operate in Altavista, Appomattox, Bedford and Brookneal.