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Letter to the editor

Work on Job Corps site starts soon

By PAUL SWIDER, Times Staff Writer
Published January 20, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - The U.S. Department of Labor is set to award a contract to build the 166,000-square-foot Job Corps facility at Fifth Avenue S and 22nd Street. Construction of the $30-million complex should start next month and will take about a year and a half. The nine-building campus will support 300 students and about 100 staff members. It will include two dormitories, a cafeteria, a gymnasium and academic buildings. Job Corps is a federal program that helps people 16 through 24 with education and job training. Programs will include high school diplomas, GED, college credit and job skill training in such areas as automotive, technology, nursing, hospitality and the building trades. Started in 1964, the Job Corps has educated more than 2-million students. The St. Petersburg site will join other Florida locations in Miami, Homestead, Gainesville and Jacksonville. City and Pinellas County officials began pushing for a Job Corps Training Center here in 2001. The U.S. Department of Labor awarded a $24-million grant for the program in 2003. After considering several sites, the city sold the 16-acre Dome Industrial Park site in 2005 to the Department of Labor for $2.25-million. The center is expected to create more than 100 jobs and contribute some $7-million to the local economy. Renker Eich Parks Architects designed the buildings.

[Last modified January 19, 2008, 21:57:55]