Work begins on new skills center for Valley students

It was all smiles, shovels and hard hats as more than 50 people gathered Thursday at the groundbreaking for the new Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center.

The center will be built just east of State Fair Park at 1120 S. 18th St.

The gathering drew school district personnel from around the Valley, whose students will be trained at the center, as well as representatives from Yakima Valley Community College, various school boards, Perry Technical Institute, local businesses and Educational Service District 105, which provides support services to local school districts in four Central Washington counties.

Yakima school board president Vickie Ybarra addressed the crowd, followed by County Commissioner Mike Leita.

"It will be a wonderful focal point for technical, vocational and career education," Ybarra said.

The first phase of the center, at a cost of $15 million, is slated to be completed by fall 2009. Students will begin using the facility after the first phase is complete.

Additional space is expected to be built during the second phase of construction, contingent on a $23 million allocation from the state Legislature.

Upon completion, the campus is expected to be 92,000 square feet and serve about 1,200 high school-aged students daily in 17 different vocational programs.

Leita called it a "win, win, win" for the school district, county and State Fair Park.

Educators emphasized that the new center, which is relocating from facilities at YVCC, will ensure that a trained workforce will be available for area industry.

"This is a great thing," said Ben Soria, Yakima School District superintendent. "This is a way to keep our kids in this community."

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