Photos: Look inside Lamar Orange's newest building

By Kim Brent

Photos: Look inside Lamar Orange's newest building

Lamar State College Orange furthered its status as one of the Texas State University System's "flagship schools" after unveiling its newest academic building.

The 55,000-square-foot facility built on the former site of a long-shuttered bank came with a $38 million price tag, but for the college and President Thomas Johnson, it was worth every penny.

Wednesday afternoon, he got to show Texas State University Chancellor Brian McCall, fellow collegiate leaders, staff, students and the community just what he meant during a grand opening ceremony that included a ribbon cutting and open house tours of the facility.

Attendees roamed the two-story building, viewing its eight state-of-the-art labs, eight classrooms, two computer labs and faculty and internet technology offices. The building also includes an outdoor patio on the second floor, offering scenic views of the campus and downtown riverfront.

The labs alone are a big plus to the school's growing programs, one of the largest of which is the nursing program.

"They need these labs," Johnson said, pointing out the new facilities that include lab prep areas sandwiched between lab spaces, allowing multiple labs to operate simultaneously.

RELATED: LSCO breaks ground on new facility

The building's groundbreaking in April 2023 was the start of a much-needed expansion to accommodate what would soon thereafter become a substantial increase in enrollment.

"It meets the needs we have and allows us the room to grow," Johnson said. "We didn't build this for today. We built this for the next 10 years. If we keep growing in enrollment, we need a place to put everyone."

This fall's enrollment set a record for the college, which over the past five years added 17 new programs. Several of those new programs have seen enrollment numbers increase well over 100% within the past year.

They're numbers that lend particular credence to the need for growth like that presented by the opening of the new Academic Building.

It's change that's striking to graduates like Orange County Judge John Gothia, who traversed the much smaller Lamar-Orange campus as a student in 1981-1982.

RELATED: Local colleges see impressive growth

Now as a county leader, he sees the benefits the college's growth can bring in terms of jobs and future residents invested in Orange County.

As one speaker said, quoting Benjamin Franklin, "An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."

And this isn't the last investment the college plans to make in coming years.

Across Green Street is the long vacant Baptist Church, which has been acquired by the college and is mid-transformation to becoming their new "Welcome Center."

The original stained glass and dome will remain in place, lending a sense of grandeur, not to mention local downtown Orange history, to the.campus's next acquisition.

Work on that facility is expected to be completed in January 2025, Johnson said.

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