“The next step is actually to move into the design phase,” Riley said. “We are expecting that throughout 2022 all of the permitting and preparation will occur, including the design phase, and then we’ll move into the construction phase in late 2022 or possibly even into 2023.”
After previously reported delays with finding property for the center and re-evaluating workforce needs in Magnolia, she said the 50,000-square-foot center will likely be completed in 2024. The center will be located at the corner of FM 1774 and FM 1486 in Magnolia next to the Escondido community under construction.
Following an analysis of local workforce needs and the labor market, Riley said the Magnolia campus is poised to include an heating, ventilation and air conditioning instructional lab and training space for paramedic programs to meet local workforce needs as well as computer and science labs to support health occupation and engineering programs at the Montgomery and Tomball campuses.
The center will also include a small library, a testing center, administrative offices and classroom space.
“Within the computer labs, we can also run a number of computer-based programs. ... We’ll definitely have business programs, probably some computer science courses,” she said.
She said the center will begin its design phase this spring, a long-awaited milestone for the project. LSC-Magnolia is funded by a 2014 LSCS bond referendum approved by voters.
Architectural firm Harrison Kornberg Architects was chosen as the architect, and a construction manager at risk will likely be voted on in March or April by the LSCS board of trustees before construction can begin, Riley said.
“It is moving along—not as fast as anybody would like I’m sure, but it is moving along,” she said. “At least some really concrete steps are underway as far as moving toward a completed facility."
