ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Community College-Forest Park (STLCC) has run out of space for students in its automotive and transportation programs as industry jobs are in high demand, but a new $48 million Transportation Center planned for the campus is expected to fix this issue.

What You Need To Know

  • The 79,000-square-foot Transportation Center will expand capacity for automotive technology, diesel technology and truck driving programs to be under one roof with room to offer a new certificate in vehicle inspection and light maintenance

  • There also will be a 36,000-square-foot fleet parking lot and a 193,000-square-foot truck driving lot that will offer unique outdoor learning opportunities

  • The center will additionally have flexible classrooms, lobby spaces to host events and classes for outside companies and organizations; there will be areas for breaks, and exploration and collaboration, allowing credit and noncredit students and courses to work together seamlessly

  • Funding comes from Prop R, an eight-cent tax levy increase, which was passed by St. Louis City, County, and portions of Franklin and Jefferson voters in August 2021

A groundbreaking for the new facility took place Wednesday, Oct. 25, where faculty, staff, students and officials viewed renderings and took part in the ceremony. 

“We know that these technicians and drivers are critical to our local, regional and national workforces and this new center allows us to provide more highly qualified people for these jobs,” said Julie Fickas, STLCC-Forest Park president and chief academic officer.

She said students will be able to complete the programs with little to no student debt.

Funding comes from Prop R, an eight-cent tax levy increase, which was passed by St. Louis City, County, and portions of Franklin and Jefferson voters in August 2021.

The funds will be used to update workforce programs, building repairs, and keep college programs affordable.

The 79,000-square-foot Transportation Center will expand capacity for automotive technology, diesel technology and truck driving programs to be under one roof with room to offer a new certificate in vehicle inspection and light maintenance. 

There also will be a 36,000-square-foot fleet parking lot and a 193,000-square-foot truck driving lot that will offer unique outdoor learning opportunities.

“What this will do for St. Louis and the transportation industry is unbelievable,” said Joe Jackson, automotive program coordinator at STLCC-Forest Park.

He mentioned there are more automotive and transportation employers seeking workers than there are students studying those industries currently at STLCC-Forest Park.

The Transportation Center will pave the way for new manufacturing partnerships such as Tesla, but right now, the college does not have the resources or the facilities to pursue that, according to Jackson.

 

Spencer Clark is working on his Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree at STLCC-Forest Park and has goals of becoming a car mechanic and master tech at a dealership.

“I’ve always liked working on cars and I’ve always wanted to know how to fix them, and STL-CC has done a really good job at teaching me how to do that,” he said.

Clark said the Transportation Center will offer students like himself more classes such as autobody, which is not being currently offered due to space.

The center will additionally have flexible classrooms, lobby spaces to host events and classes for outside companies and organizations; there will be areas for breaks, and exploration and collaboration, allowing credit and noncredit students and courses to work together seamlessly.

“This new Transportation Center will allow us to expand minds and change lives in new and exciting ways in a state-of-the-art facility,” Fickas said.

Students who will use the Transportation Center will be important to the local and national economy, said Mike Behrmann, STCC-Forest Park Automotive Technology Advisory Board member.

“Everything at some time spends part of its life on a truck,” he said. “These trucks need drivers, and so the truck driving training program is a critical piece to the movement of goods and people around our communities and this nation.”

“And behind the scenes, we also have technicians that are there to help maintain and service and diagnose these sophisticated and complicated pieces of machinery.”

Behrmann said modern cars and trucks have hundreds of microprocessors and several different computer networks.

“We need people that understand these systems,” he said.

Students also will be exposed to new technologies such as high voltage electrical systems.

“When you stop and think about the impact that these students walking through these doors are going to have for not only this industry, but this community, this state and our nation, it’s extremely important,” Behrmann said. 

“I applaud everyone here that has been a part of making sure that this facility is going to happen.”

The Transportation Center is expected to be completed by summer 2025.

As part of its STLCC Transformed efforts, the Transportation Center is the sixth and final new building across the four main campuses. 

In May, STLCC-Wildwood broke ground on the Center for Health Sciences and Technology. In July, the FLorissant Valley Campus broke ground on the Center for Nursing and Health Science and the Advanced Manufacturing Center in August. 

Meramec broke ground on the Financial Services and Enrollment Center and the Center for Emerging Technology in September.