The first phase of the demolition of a building at College of The Albemarle’s (COA) Dare County Campus located at 205 U.S. Highway 64 is scheduled to begin the week of Sept. 14, 2020.
The first phase of the demolition of a building at College of The Albemarle’s (COA) Dare County Campus located at 205 U.S. Highway 64 is scheduled to begin the week of Sept. 14, 2020. The building—which was formerly Manteo High School and later Manteo Middle School before becoming part of COA—will be demolished in order to clear the site for construction of a two-story, state-of-the-art academic building that will take its place.
Phase one of the demolition process will be the installment of a temporary construction fence around the perimeter of the property. Demolition of the building itself is expected to begin in two weeks, once asbestos abatement has been completed. The demolition process will last approximately two months and will take place Monday through Friday during regular business hours. Disruption to traffic is expected to be minimal, and no road closures are scheduled at this time.
Recognizing an increased need for higher education programming in the area, the Dare County Board of Commissioners made the important decision to invest in the future of the community by greenlighting the construction of the cutting-edge facility, which will consolidate the two separate sites that currently comprise the Dare County Campus. When construction of the new academic building at 205 U.S. Highway 64 is complete, all offices, programs and services currently operating out of COA’s campus at 132 Russell Twiford Road in Manteo will be relocated to the new site.
As part of the pre-construction planning process, a COA task force was formed and held five formal public meetings in order to gather input on the facility from the Outer Banks community. The building will serve as a flex space that can easily adapt as changes in curriculum needs occur and will provide more programs and skills-based technical opportunities for Dare County citizens.
At present, the facility will be used to offer programs in a variety of fields, including hospitality, property management, housekeeping, culinary training, maintenance, outdoor recreation, experimental education, plumbing, HVAC, welding, electrical training, mechanics, carpentry, aquaculture, early childhood education, health sciences (nursing, certified nursing assistant training and X-ray technician training), sciences (agricultural, environmental and natural resources), CDL licensing, learning opportunities for individuals with disabilities, lifelong learning, and public safety (emergency medical services, emergency management, basic law enforcement training and firefighting), among others.
Dare County will reuse the brick and concrete masonry units from the building to construct roads at the Dare County C&D Landfill in Manns Harbor, an action that resulted in considerable cost savings on the demolition process.
For more information about the demolition, contact Dare County Public Information Officer Dorothy Hester at dorothy@darenc.com or 252.475.5903.
