Southwestern schedules Curry groundbreaking

Southwestern Oregon Community College is planning a groundbreaking celebration for the site of the new Curry County Campus at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 12.

The College recently reached a firm agreement with Rio Tinto Minerals – the parent company of U.S. Borax – to gain 10 acres of land north of Brookings with plans to construct a new campus, which would serve as the headquarters of the College’s Curry County operations. Southwestern plans to maintain the satellite campuses in Gold Beach and Port Orford at their current locations. The College still will need to go through the land use process required by the city of Brookings.

First focus group meetings and master planning will begin this spring with architects Crow/Clay Associates with discussions to begin with first focus group meetings to be located in Curry County to discuss the new Curry County Campus. The master planning process for the new Curry County location will focus on identifying community needs for the new campus site. Plans at this time for the new site include a full-time practical nursing program, coursework for on-site associate degrees and additional programming to meet community needs.

Southwestern officials, as well as representatives of Rio Tinto Minerals and several state and local dignitaries will take part in the groundbreaking ceremony. The ground-breaking celebration also will kick off the College’s 46th-anniversary celebration.

Press Release Date: March 21 , 2007