Tarrant County College breaks ground on $151M building project on Southeast Campus
Tarrant County College’s Southeast Campus is expanding to meet growing student’s needs, 26 years after opening its doors.
College and community leaders met on a cool and windy Friday morning to break ground on the planned expansion at the campus in south Arlington.
The expansion spurred from a 2019 bond proposal that voters approved for the entire Tarrant County College system at $825 million. Funding went to several of the campuses, with the Southeast site receiving $151 million for its planned expansion/renovation.
Southeast president William Coppola called the expansion a long time coming and something that the campus needs because of rising enrollment.
“There was such a need to meet our growth that this project includes not one, but two buildings,” Coppola said to the crowd of over 100 people.
The campus had nearly 8,200 students enrolled in the fall. The college has had to add modular classrooms to accommodate growing enrollment.
The expansion includes new student experience and academic buildings that add 100,000 square feet of space, along with renovations to the main campus, library and parking lots. Along with new classrooms and courtyard, there will be new kitchens and a mixology space for culinary arts students.
Jamea Johnson, a psychology student at TCC, said the motto associated with the expansion “building opportunities for tomorrow” reflected her own college experience.
After enrolling fresh out of high school, she didn’t know anyone. That quickly changed after joining the student government association. There she was able to meet friends and flesh out the student group, giving her the opportunity to grow.
Tarrant County College allowed her to flourish, and now the next generation of students will benefit from these changes, she said.
“The new campus buildings will house new students, giving them the opportunity to grow here at Southeast and find themselves on the path to becoming better people,” Johnson said.
Construction on the expansion and renovations begins soon with an expected completion date of 2024.
