FORD CITY — A $45 million engineering and advanced manufacturing center is coming to Richard J. Daley College in Ford City.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel broke ground on the 57,000-square foot student center Monday afternoon. The addition to the campus is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2018, allowing students to begin to use it in January 2019.
Five labs for students studying both engineering and manufacturing are part of a new addition slated for Richard J. Daley College. Two computer labs and administrative offices are also part of the expansion. [Supplied Illustration]
The addition at 7500 S. Pulaski Road is designed to help Chicago residents take advantage of more than 20,000 engineering and advanced manufacturing jobs expected in the region over the next decade, according to Emanuel's office.
It will include five labs for students studying both engineering and manufacturing. Two computer labs and administrative offices are also part of the expansion.
Breaking ground on a 57,000-sq-ft facility at #DaleyCollege with engineering/manufacturing & computer labs, admin space & pedestrian bridge. pic.twitter.com/OFlkPajcMp
— Mayor Rahm Emanuel (@ChicagosMayor) September 25, 2017
The manufacturing center is the latest in an effort by each of the city's seven colleges to align themselves with growth industries. Other examples include Olive Harvey's focus on education in transportation, distribution and logistics, Truman College's child development lab and the new health sciences campus at Malcolm X College.
“With nearly 40 percent of Chicago's students enrolling in college today, it is critical that they have access to a college education that will prepare them for the growing job industries," Emanuel said in a previous release.
