BCCC Awards Construction of Boat Manufacturing Building to A.R. Chesson

Beaufort County Community College awarded the contract for construction of a new building to house its boat manufacturing program to A.R. Chesson Construction. When completed, the $2.08 million project will offer a long-term instructional space to the program, currently housed temporarily at the Beaufort County Skills Center on Page Road.

The 5,201 square foot project was designed by JKF Architecture, which has previously designed the Public Safety Training Building for BCCC, as well as other buildings on campus. The building will sit to the west of the Skilled Trades Building and northwest of the Advanced Manufacturing Building. It will contain a paint booth and workshop space.

Funding for the project includes $450,000 from Beaufort County, $935,000 of unallocated funding from the Connect N.C. Bond, and $650,000 from the State Capital and Infrastructure Fund. Construction is slated to begin in December of this year and wrap up in late 2023.

The Beaufort County Committee of 100 donated use of the Skills Center for two years as the program ramps up. The boat manufacturing program started in August 2021 with Connor Jones as lead professor.

The boat manufacture and service technology program prepares students for employment in the manufacture, repair, and service of boats. Students learn the basics of boat design and the implementation of those designs in various components. Course work includes reading and interpreting marine blueprints, manuals, and other documents common to the industry, lofting, constructing tooling and mold-making, application of concepts and techniques in composite lamination, repair of various marine finishes, marine woodworking, interior finishing, and marine mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.

A.R. Chesson Construction previously carried out a campus-wide sidewalk and road crossing project at BCCC to improve accessibility for people with disabilities and build pedestrian connectivity between buildings.

“We are excited to work once more with A.R. Chesson on this important project,” said Dr. Dave Loope, BCCC President. “This will bring the program physically onto our campus and let our boatbuilding students participate more in student life. Several boat building companies have invested in the county by building new properties or rehabilitating existing ones. It is only fitting that–with the bipartisan support of our county commissioners–we invest in training area residents in boat manufacturing.”

Members of the first cohort of boat manufacturing graduates are already working with local boat manufacturers.