(MARSHALL, Texas) – Shovels hit the ground for the first of many times on Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Texas State Technical College’s Marshall campus during a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate construction of a new Diesel Equipment Technology building.
“Today’s event marks a significant milestone in TSTC’s East Texas history: from our humble beginnings as an extension center back in 1992 to where we stand this morning, more than 4,000 graduates later,” Marshall campus provost Barton Day said.
According to TSTC senior construction manager Jay Wesson, the $13 million, 21,000-square-foot building will be located right next door to the original Diesel Equipment Technology building. It will house a classroom, 10 bays in the diesel equipment lab, a lab for diesel transmission, and an engine lab.
“This is going to help TSTC because we’re adding off-road diesel to the current on-road diesel program,” Wesson said. “It’s going to expand our number of students. Hopefully it will help the community and the surrounding area by having a bigger place to train our diesel students.”
TSTC Chancellor and CEO Mike Reeser traveled to the Marshall campus to celebrate the occasion with the visitors and staff.
“Across the state, TSTC is the No. 1 public college in Texas for diesel technicians,” Reeser said. “The students that we serve in this new diesel building for decades to come are going to go out in that workforce and have an extraordinary career. In the end, the employers who hire them and those students are the true beneficiaries of everything we do.”
Diesel Equipment Technology instructor Tim Winchester looks forward to the ways that the new building will expand the program.
“I think it will be a wonderful addition,” Winchester said. “We do a lot of changing in the current space. We have to move a lot of stuff around. There we will be able to make more stations that are permanently attached, allowing us more time to concentrate on the classes themselves.”
The new building is scheduled to open in spring 2025.
For more information about TSTC, visit tstc.edu.
