JCC Advances Nearly 30 Million Dollars in Bond-Funded Campus Improvements
Projects will expand public-safety training facilities and renovate the Elsee and Britt buildings.
Johnston Community College is moving forward with three major campus projects funded through the $30 million bond referendum approved by Johnston County voters in 2024.
The projects include a significant expansion of JCC’s Public Safety training facilities, renovations and an addition to the Elsee Building, and renovations to the Britt Building. Together, these improvements will expand hands-on training opportunities, modernize instructional spaces and help JCC respond to the educational and workforce needs of a rapidly growing county.
“The work made possible by this historic bond referendum represents a tremendous investment in Johnston County’s students, workforce and future,” said JCC President Dr. Vern L. Lindquist. “We are deeply grateful to the voters of Johnston County, the Johnston County Board of Commissioners and our community partners for recognizing the essential role the College plays in preparing our students for the regional workforce. These projects will have lasting benefits for our students and community.”
The largest portion of the bond funding, approximately $23 million, is supporting a multiphase expansion of JCC’s Public Safety training facilities.
Phase One, which began June 1, includes the replacement and expansion of the parking lot and a 600-by-600-foot concrete driver training pad for emergency vehicle operation and scenario-based training exercises. It will provide a controlled environment in which students and working public-safety professionals can develop and strengthen critical emergency-driving and response skills.
Additional components of the Public Safety project include a new apparatus and classroom building with bays for storing fire apparatus and equipment, instructional space and areas for maintenance training and a three-story “burn” building designed to support realistic, hands-on emergency-response exercises.
Approximately $4.25 million dollars in bond funding is supporting renovations and a new front addition to the Elsee Building, which houses the College’s Nurse Aide and other programs. The project is expected to be completed by December 2026.
The bond also provided approximately two million dollars for renovations to the Britt Building, which is home to the College’s growing Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Technology program and will allow Emergency Medical Services to expand into the same building.
“These improvements are about more than buildings,” Lindquist said. “They will help JCC serve a growing county and growing student enrollment, which has increased 72 percent in the last five years.”
That enrollment growth has also added approximately $42 million in state funding to Johnston Community College’s budget.
