A new landmark building on the Texas State Technical College campus is on track to open for the spring semester, and some of the hands and minds behind its construction are TSTC’s own graduates.
Construction began last year on the soaring $72 million center, which is visible from Interstate 35. The 120,000-square foot structure will house electrical, plumbing, and solar and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning programs in addition to construction technology.
And more campus improvements can be expected in coming years after Texas voters this month approved an $850 million endowment for the Waco-based technical college system, generating an estimated $40 million a year for capital needs.
Here are some of the alumni who played key roles in the two-year construction of the center.
Credit: Justin Hamel / The Waco Bridge / CatchLight Local / Report for America
Daniel Sprinkle, TSTC class of 2024, started as a project engineer while still a student, balancing classwork and real-life experiences.
“I was getting to look at some of that in the field and go, ‘Oh, I know what that is.’ So there was some carryover, like I was kind of seeing what I was learning in real time being used.“
“It feels like I’m almost giving back to what they poured into me. Like they gave me my education, they gave me the opportunity to come and work at RO, and now I’m using that to build for them, for TSTC.”
James Stefka Jr., TSTC class of 2016, is an assistant project manager at the Construction Technologies Building.
“It almost doesn’t feel real just to come back and be able to be a part of this brand new facility … that I once graduated from,” said James Stefka Jr., assistant project manager at the Construction Technologies Building, class of 2016. “And it’s a neat experience to get to give back to the community and to make a state of the art facility for these new students coming in.“
“TSTC gave you a good foundation for your next step in your career, gave you the basics, everything from understanding of blueprints or shop drawings to different computer skills that you would need to continue further educating once you get into the career field. So it was a good baseline or good starting point.”
Seth Blanchard, a 2016 TSTC graduate, is project manager for the Construction Technologies Center for Rogers-O’Brien Construction.
“It’s really special, kind of a full circle, because we got to go through the program for it, and then to be able to tell students that students built this and had a big part in it, this is what you can do from this program.”
William Holmes III, class of 2020, is a construction quality manager at the Construction Technologies Center.
“It is kind of like a dream come true sort of thing to come back to be a part of a program that you took yourself,” Holmes said. “But to help establish the new facility that future generations will come through, just driving down the highway, or whether it’s coming by just to know you’re a part of that is, I mean, it’s pretty surreal.”
Disclosure: Texas State Technical College is a financial supporter of The Waco Bridge, a nonprofit news organization that is funded in part by donations from individual donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Bridge’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
