A state-of-the-art facility is on the way to help prepare high school students living in Ross Township for college and career opportunities.
The Merrillville Community School Corporation board of school trustees, administrators, CTE teachers and students will break ground to start construction on the new $18 million, 57,000 square-foot Career & Technical Education (CTE) building on Friday, Dec. 16.
The addition, scheduled for completion in July 2024, will be located behind Merrillville High School, 276 E. 68th Pl. The facility will include a large construction trades lab; welding lab; fire and rescue lab, plus training area; automotive lab; a future lab for expanding educational offerings; and classroom spaces.
"We are very pleased and excited to begin creating a new Career and Technical Education (CTE) building to meet the current and future needs of our wonderful students," said Superintendent Nick Brown. "This new CTE building will support the Merrillville Community’s efforts to prepare our students for their futures.
"This new building will allow us to expand CTE course offerings and increase the number of students to be able to enroll in these important courses," Brown added. "We thank the board of education for their vision and support with this project."
The board of school trustees secured $140 million in funding that is tax rate neutral for upcoming large projects that includes the CTE building. Additional projects covered by this funding include a new high school cafeteria replacing the old cafeteria that will become learning spaces; a multi-purpose room at Miller Elementary School; mechanical, plumbing and electrical upgrades to all buildings; sidewalk, concrete and parking lot repairs at all buildings; upgrades to playground equipment at all elementary buildings; interior renovations including carpet, paint, media center upgrades at all buildings; and renovations and upgrades to Reinhart Auditorium.
Performance Services, a company serving the learning environment needs of K-12 schools since 1998, was chosen by the school corporation to design/implement these renovations. Performance Services is headquartered in Indianapolis with regional offices in nine additional states.
To learn more about Merrillville High School's CTE programs, visit the school corporation's website, www.mvsc.k12.in.us, or use this QR code to go right to the virtual tour:
