(Cochran, Ga.) –Ribbon cutting and groundbreaking ceremonies are becoming a regular occurrence on the Middle Georgia College (MGC) campuses; and on November 20, MGC celebrated yet another impressive addition. Joined by community members, students, employees and area officials, MGC held a ribbon cutting for the Dillard Hall expansion project followed by an open house with guided tours of the facility. The expansion will be a great asset to the MGC campus, enabling the college to better serve its students and the surrounding areas by offering increasingly outstanding educational opportunities.
With the completion of the project, MGC’s science facility will now be modernized with state-of-the art educational spaces and equipment. The new building features chemistry labs with high-tech educational equipment, including cameras, projectors, speakers in the ceilings, Sympodium, a de-ionized water system and vacuum lines. A chemistry prep room and a biology prep room complete with its own dishwasher were also added. New biology labs include a laminar flow hood for experiments with living cultures, a sterilizer for microbiology, a water distiller and cubicle stations for lab exams. Both labs have new equipment like microscopes, microbiology supplies, balances, a spectrophotometer and manymodels. Additional features of the new building include lighted display cases, featuring displays such as “The Evolution of the Computer” and large wide screen televisions at the end of the halls to show science-related films.
“This facility is really adding to our institution,” said MGC President Mike Stoy during the dedication ceremony. “We’re just beginning here, and as the college continues to grow, we will need additional facilities. There is a whole range of things that are out there right now that we’re working on and pursuing.”
As part of the ceremony, MGC recognized Speaker Emeritus and Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture Terry Coleman who helped secure funding for the project when he was in the Georgia House of Representatives. The Dillard Hall expansion features a plaque honoring Coleman’s contribution that reads, “In honor of Representative Terry Coleman, Speaker of the House, who provided the vision, leadership and support necessary to make the Dillard Hall expansion a reality.” Coleman attended the ceremony and toured the facility afterwards.
“In order for rural Georgia to compete, we have to have high-quality education. Not only basic K-12 education, but also the excellent advanced education offered by facilities such as this,” Coleman said during his remarks. “With the addition of this building, you have an opportunity to greatly accelerate the growth of this college. There is no reason why this school can’t compete with any other state college or university in the state of Georgia.”
Representatives from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, International City Builders and Hecht Burdeshaw Architects, Inc. all took part in the dedication ceremony along with MGC’s chair of the Natural Science, Mathematics and Engineering Division Dr. John Pasto.
