College of Southern Maryland’s Career Education (CE) building will be getting a makeover.  The CE Building is one of the three original buildings from the Charles County Community College.  The other original structures have been renovated.

Completion of the renovation is expected by Spring 2014, with a price tag of $16 million.  The building will contain 18 classrooms, three computer labs, two conference rooms and specialized facilities for criminal justice, geography programs and allied health programs.  The new structure will be two stories at 45,000 square feet, four times the size of the existing building.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held on a perfect Autumn afternoon on Monday.

“You couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day than we have today,” College of Southern Maryland (CSM) President Dr. Bradley Gottfried said.  “We have been waiting for this for a long time.  One by one, these buildings have been renovated.”

“I’m proud to play a small part in this,” CSM Board of Trustees Chair J. Austin Slater said.  “CSM is a game changer for thousands of people every year.”

“It has been one of my deepest honors and privileges to support this college,” Charles County Commissioner President Candice Quinn Kelly (D) said. “This college is a solution.”

“The thing that stood out to me is this is an original building in 1968,” Maryland State Delegate Peter Murphy (D: District 28, Charles County) said.  “That’s one year after I graduated high school so it’s really old.”

Vincent Juraez, a student at CSM and a veteran of the United States Marine Corps praised the college, and said he wants to become an elementary education instructor.   He said he witnessed the need for education first hand when traveling around the world.

“The entire Southern Maryland delegation is very pleased, when we go to Annapolis and get funding for CSM,” Maryland State Delegate Sally Jameson (D: District 28, Charles County) said.  “This building will be a tremendous assett.”

Dr. Daniel Mosser, vice president of continuing education and workforce development for CSM, said the building will host cyber professionals as well as environmental technology programs, as well as other career development programs.

Charles County Commissioner Ken Robinson (D: 1st) said he’d like to see CSM expand and start offering four year degree programs.

Following the speeches, each person in attendance was handed a mallet to beat down on the walls inside a classroom of the existing CE structure.