From Germanna Community College
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last night (Jan. 23) to approve the transfer of 25 acres to the Germanna Community College Real Estate Foundation for the purpose of building a permanent center with the goal of an eventual campus in Stafford. The land was donated to Stafford by HHHunt for that purpose. The agreement will allow GCC up to 20 years to build a permanent center on the land. It’s expected that it will take less than half that time for the first building to be constructed and open.
Germanna’s president thanked the Board of Supervisors and HHHunt and said acquiring the parcel, which is at 143 Jumping Branch Rd., head Stafford Hospital, is a major step forward for GCC in the county.
“This night was the culmination of so much good will and the extraordinary efforts of so many Germanna supporters,” GCC President Janet Gullickson said. “We are grateful.”
She thanked GCCEF and Real Estate Foundation Representatives Bruce Davis and Jack Rowley for their efforts on behalf of an expanded Germanna presence in Stafford County. Gullickson and Rowley both spoke on behalf of the transfer at the meeting.
Gullickson said Germanna will offer cybersecurity and nursing training in Stafford.
Separately, a new, expanded but temporary leased Germanna center in Stafford is scheduled to open in May, 2018. It will allow GCC to serve Stafford residents until the completion of and help pave the way to what Germanna believes will eventually be a full campus in the county. The existing temporary Stafford Center at Aquia that opened in 2009 is a rental property. The May move to the new temporary leased center will increase Germanna’s space in the Stafford from 5,000 to about 15,000 square feet
Gullickson estimated the cost of the first phase of the permanent Stafford Center at about $19 million. After GCC raises about $2 million, the state legislature would be asked to approve the rest of that funding as part of a list of projects from the Virginia Community College System, which supports constructing a permanent Germanna site in Stafford.
In 2015, Adam and Rhonda Fried of Atlantic Builders donated $1 million toward a Germanna center in Stafford.
