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Bluegrass Community And Technical College Celebrates Anniversary, New Home

Josh James
/
WUKY

Bluegrass Community and Technical College marked two milestones Thursday as officials gathered at the school’s new Newtown Campus.

Standing on ground that was occupied by the former Eastern State Hospital, BCTC president Dr. Augusta Julian told the audience the college is entering a new chapter in its history. The new LEED-certified, four-story classroom building houses eleven academic programs, including Computer Information Technology.

Yet, she said, the mission remains largely unchanged from the school's earliest days.

"We do go back 75 years with the start of adult education courses that were designed to help people who were coming out of the Depression to get new skills and the jobs that were out there. And we're still doing that 75 years later, whether somebody's working on an associate degree to take to a bachelors program or looking for job skills," Julian noted.

Gov. Steve Beshear added that the facility has the power to improve life not just for students but for the surrounding community, aiding in the revitalization of an entire part of town.

"It's a very neat thing to see how this is affecting the whole neighborhood," he said.

While officials broke ground on the classroom building in 2011, Julian said this week's ceremony is the culmination of about six years of work on behalf of school officials and state and local lawmakers.

Josh James fell in love with college radio at Western Kentucky University's student station, New Rock 92 (now Revolution 91.7). After working as a DJ and program director, he knew he wanted to come home to Lexington and try his hand in public radio.
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