State investments sent to Clark County
Lawmakers have secured funding for three important local projects in the state's final new construction budget, state Rep. Tim Probst (D-Vancouver) announced last week.
The WSU Vancouver Advanced Technology Building received $38 million, the Clark County Food Bank received $1.5 million and the Clark County Skills Center received a smaller but helpful allocation.
Construction of the WSU building, which will house additional classroom space for its electrical engineering program, is set to begin this fall. The building's total cost will be around $42.6 million.
"Getting WSU Vancouver's building back on track was critically important for the high-tech economy we are trying to build for Clark County's people," said Probst, a key backer of the project in the state Legislature.
Vancouver Community Library groundbreaking scheduled
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held on Friday, August 14 at 1 p.m. for the new Vancouver Community Library at the intersection of E. Evergreen and C Streets.
Slated to open in 2011, the planned 83,000 square-foot facility is primarily funded by a bond measure passed by city voters in 2006. The $37 million cost for the five-level structure is also supported by an anonymous $5 million gift, as well as the donation of the land by Vancouver-based Killian Pacific, developer of the Riverwest mixed-use project.
The facility will replace the current main library on Mill Plain Boulevard as the centerpiece of the Fort Vancouver Library System. Construction is already underway on another bond-funded project, the Cascade Park Community Library on SE Hearthwood Boulevard, scheduled to open late 2009 or early 2010.
