SALINEVILLE, Ohio – The Utica Shale Academy was awarded $250,000 to complete an interior welding lab at its newest facility.
Construction is underway on a second building next to the current exterior welding lab at 83 E. Main St., and the grant will finance the interior welding site. The 5,000-square-foot structure will feature 40 welding labs, a CNC plasma cutter and classroom.
PDDM Solutions of Canonsburg, Pa., was awarded the initial $907,000 bid, with FMD Architects Inc. of Fairlawn performing the work, but the extra welding labs increased costs to nearly $1.5 million.
Most of the construction funding – roughly $1.3 million – came through an Appalachian Community Grant, and the latest funding will come from the Appalachian Regional Commission and Governor’s Office of Appalachia.
“The welding lab we’re building is in two phases,” said Bill Watson, Utica Shale Academy superintendent. “The first phase is the building itself, and the second phase is the welding lab inside. We applied several months ago, and there are multiple stages to it. We have a project with one-time funds, and the daily budgets are tough to keep up with. So we were pleased when this funding came through.”
Ground was broken in March for the site, while the foundation and roofing were completed with plumbing and other utility lines being placed. Watson said the project is expected to be completed by mid-August, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony possibly on Oct. 3.
“We plan on pushing [the project completion] towards the end of July and hope to be up and running in September when the students return to school,” he said.
Utica Shale Academy became the first recipient of Gov. Mike DeWine’s $500 million ARC grant to expand the welding, heavy equipment and robotics programs and provide modern, state-of-the-art opportunities for its students.