After a significant public outreach effort, downtown Alexandria was the site selected for the new Central Louisiana Technical Community College. In order to satisfy current program needs and have capacity for growth, two campus sites were chosen – the old McCormick Graphics building on 3rd Street and a parcel directly across from the Rapides Parish Courthouse for the main campus. MML&H provided structural and civil engineering services for the Joint Venture architectural team of Ashe Broussard Weinzettle and Barron, Heinburg & Brocato, two longtime Alexandria architectural firms. The downtown building is a three-story steel framed structure supported by auger cast piles and stabilized by strategically placed tube steel braces. The Riverfront Campus (McCormick Graphics building) improvements consist of renovating the entire existing building to suit the program requirements, as well as some building additions- interior and exterior. The structure is steel framed and supported by a shallow foundation system. MML&H was also responsible for drainage design at both campus sites as well as a new parking area. Funding was provided primarily by the State and administered through Facility Planning and Control along with a local match by the City of Alexandria. The project had an aggressive schedule to satisfy the college’s campus transfer. The Riverfront Campus opened for the Spring 2019 semester while the Downtown Campus was completed in time for the Fall 2019 semester at a total construction cost of $16.9 million.
