 Students from PCC's Construction and Industrial Technology Division built this home in West Greenville through a partnership with the city. CIT students are already laying the foundation for a second home nearby. |
GREENVILLE�A partnership between Pitt Community College and the City of Greenville has produced a new home in a 45-block area of redevelopment taking place in West Greenville. Since August 2007, students from PCC�s Construction and Industrial Technology (CIT) Division have been working on a 1,248-square-foot home on Hudson Street for the city to then sell based on criterion it has established. PCC�s role in the project is expected to wrap up the first week of October. According to Van Madray, CIT Division Dean, students from the college�s Building Construction, Electrical/Electronics, Carpentry, Architectural Technology, Masonry, and Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration programs contributed to the project. �One of the goals of PCC�s strategic plan is engagement and access with the community,� Madray said. �This project is another example of PCC extending learning to the community.� Bill Hill, department chair of Building Construction at PCC, said Pitt�s partnership with the city enabled the college to accept an additional 16 students into his program that couldn�t have enrolled otherwise, due to a lack of space. �I was looking for ways for the Building Construction Technology program to grow,� Hill said. �With limited space and resources available on campus, this was a perfect opportunity for the program to expand. The partnership with the City of Greenville has given us a lot of opportunities that we would not have had otherwise.� CIT students at Pitt have been building homes on campus for many years. When the homes are completed, they are auctioned off to the highest bidder and moved with proceeds going back into the CIT Division for future home construction projects. �The houses we build on campus are sold and have to be moved,� Hill said. �Many students will never see the completed project after it is moved. The partnership with Greenville lets our students see a completed house, which gives them a lot of pride and a sense of accomplishment.� Hill said that once the city adds landscaping and a driveway to the Hudson Street home site, a final inspection of the project will be called for so it can be officially completed. �When you look at the style and quality of the house we have built, you know it will be there for many years to come,� Hill said. �The city has made�and continues to make�many changes for the good of this community. I know the students have a lot of pride in this project and will continue to have this pride for years to come. I am sure that each of the programs that participated in this project feels good about making a difference in the community.� Hill said CIT students have already begun working on a second home in the same area of West Greenville, adding that the college is in talks with Pitt County officials in the hopes of establishing a partnership similar to the one with the city. |