US$200 MILLION NEEDED TO BUILD COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Representatives of various regional and international funding agencies, who met in Anguilla recently, primarily to discuss possible financing for the island’s elaborate and ambitious Tourism Development Master Plan, have also been given the cost of the proposed new building for the Anguilla Community College.

Sharon Richardson and Professor Louden

The educational institution, now housed in the Rogers’ Building Complex at George Hill, is to be re-located in the Factory Shell Building in the Long Path area (between The Farrington and Sandy Hill). The Government has set aside just over eleven acres of land for the project, a portion of which is said be to be earmarked for the Saint James Medical School.

Site for the Community College (with factory shell)

The overall cost of refurbishing and expanding the shell factory has been estimated at two million US dollars. A breakdown of that figure is as follows: mobilization and clean-up of site $50,000; foundation preparation and ground floor: $500,000; first floor build out: $350,000; roofing: 75,000; windows and doors: $250,000; flooring:$90,000; air conditioning: $150,000; landscaping: $35,000; paint: $50,000; internal doors: $10,000; fixtures: plumbing/electrical: $75,000; commercial kitchen: $200,000; and miscellaneous costs: $165,000.

The estimated cost of building the permanent home for the Anguilla Community College was part of a comprehensive presentation on the tertiary level institution. It was presented jointly by Professor Delroy Louden and Director of Hospitality Studies, Sharon Richardson.

The growing institution was established in 2006 as the Community College Development Unit, offering training for the island’s hospitality sector. In 2008 it began to offer Adult and Continuing Education courses. In 2009 the Anguilla Education Act was passed and a nine-member Board of Governors was appointed. The appointment of its first and current President was in 2010. It acquired 11.97 acres of land in the Long Path to develop the campus; and this year (2011) the College began offering Associate Degree programmes in Hospitality and Tourism, and Business.

The College has several divisions as follows: Hospitality Studies; Technology; Technical & Vocational; Natural Sciences; Nursing; Humanities and Education; Early Childhood Education; Social Sciences; Business and Continuing and Adult Education.

The vision of the Anguilla Community College is to be “a leading institution in the region which promotes quality teaching and passionate learning in an ever-changing global environment.”

The College has as one of its main goals to be a leading hospitality education and training institute in the region, setting benchmarks for excellence in sustainable tourism practices. Its plans in this area include a state-of-the-art hospitality training facility with 20-25 hotel rooms to provide reality-based training for students; a state-of-the-art conference centre to generate revenue for the college; a state-of-the-art training kitchen facility to meet industry standards; specialised equipment to support growth to a full service restaurant; specialised equipment including a delivery van to support catering jobs for major events; and a faculty development to ensure that staff are equipped to provide students with the latest and best educational practices to enhance their learning experiences.

The Anguilla Community College also emphasises health as an integral part of its course offerings including health tourism – for example: massage therapy, nutrition and lifestyle management.