SCTI Ribbon Cutting Set for Friday

The official ribbon cutting and grand opening of the new Sarasota County Technical Institute buildings at Beneva and Proctor roads is set for Friday at 9 a.m. An open house also has been scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Both events are open to the public

The section of SCTI being dedicated has been under construction since 2009. The cost of project was about $39 million. It includes classroom space housing programs for culinary arts, cosmetology, digital design and video production, child care, health care, business technology and various other career programs.

Students in the culinary arts program will gain practical experience by working in the school’s Bistro 502, a full-service restaurant open to the public. The cosmetology class also will operate a commercial salon, The Cutting Edge. Students in the video production program will gain practical experience by working in the new Education Channel television studio now housed at SCTI.

Other areas of the new facility house a student services center, a cafeteria, administrative offices and a conference center.

The new SCTI buildings opened for students on March 14. They are Phase II of a three-phase project. Phase I was the Suncoast Polytechnical High School, which opened in August of 2008. SPHS was built as part of the SCTI campus to allow students in the technology-oriented high school convenient access to the advanced-technology courses offered at SCTI.

SCTI Director Todd Bowden said the new SCTI is a state-of-the-art facility that he is confident will attract competent and motivated students and help put them on a path to rewarding careers. “The new SCTI has the outstanding facilities, equipment and staff needed to prepare students for high-demand careers,” he said.

“It will be a tremendous asset to workforce preparation and economic recovery in Sarasota County and a model for the entire state,” he said. “The new SCTI is saying loud and clear that today’s career and technical education programs are light years beyond the voc-tech schools of the past.”

SCTI Phase III is under way and scheduled to open in 2013. When the entire rebuilding project is completed, the 63-acre campus will include five new buildings with 344,000 square feet of classroom space. The cost of Phase III is budgeted at about $40 million.