Delgado Community College (Jefferson Campus): Delgado Celebrates Advanced Technology Center Ribbon Cutting At West Bank Campus

Press release from the Delgado Community College Jefferson Campus:

August 16, 2021

This morning, Delgado Chancellor Larissa Littleton-Steib was joined by educational,
industry, government and economic development officials for a ribbon cutting ceremony
to open a new $9.3 million Advanced Technology Center at the Delgado Community College
West Bank Campus in Algiers.

The Delgado West Bank Campus Advanced Technology Center represents a significant expansion
of the 15-acre footprint of the West Bank Campus. The center will house all academic
STEM programs including classrooms, laboratories and faculty offices. It also includes
an open common space and meeting spaces.

The 32,000-square-foot facility is located at the corner of Shirley Drive and Constellation
Street, on land acquired by Delgado from the Algiers Development District (ADD). The
ADD is redeveloping Federal City, the site of the former Navy base in Algiers that
is adjacent to the Delgado campus.

“This beautiful facility provides a magnificent gateway to the main entrance to New
Orleans Riverside at Federal City and personifies the Algiers Development District’s
ongoing commitment to education,” said Mark Major, Chairman, Board of Commissioners
for the Algiers Development District. “This Advanced Technology Center will join the
highly performing New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy, our enthusiastic varied
and diverse tenants, along with our respected United States Marine Corps and United
States Coast Guard teams, to comprise the nucleus of a vibrant residential, commercial,
and education-centered asset to our city."

The Delgado West Bank Campus is located at 2600 Gen. Meyer Avenue, and its frontage
on the busy commercial and residential thoroughfare extends from Pace Boulevard to
Shirley Drive.

With a current enrollment of 2,500, the Delgado West Bank Campus has served Algiers
and the West Bank for six decades as the local public college.The Delgado campus opened
in 1967 to provide public higher education west of the Mississippi River in the New
Orleans area.

In August 2018, Delgado Community College opened its River City Site and Advanced
Manufacturing Center in Avondale, also serving the West Bank.

“Delgado will increase the number of West Bank students enrolled—and enhance our partnerships
with key industries--by fostering innovation, education and technology at the West
Bank Campus Advanced Technology Center,” said Chancellor Steib.

The investment in the Delgado West Bank Campus Advanced Technology Center will give
the school the capacity to teach up to 2,000 more students. Specifically, the center
will focus on the healthcare, petrochemical, digital media and transportation logistics
industries.

The expansion is designed to create a workforce pipeline for the West Bank’s industrial
needs, and to ensure access to higher education. Announcing funding for the project
in 2018, Governor John Bel Edwards said it was important for students to get an education
“in close proximity” to where they live.

Delgado, the largest community college in Louisiana with an enrollment of 20,394,
has seven locations in the greater New Orleans region. There are currently more than
3,000 Delgado students from households in West Bank communities including Orleans
and Jefferson parishes—about 850 Delgado students live in Algiers, which is part of
the City of New Orleans and Orleans Parish.

Delgado Community College and the ADD previously collaborated to acquire and open
the West Bank Campus Student Life Center, which opened in September 2015. That 10,800-square-foot
building was the former chapel at the Navy base. A $2 million investment by Delgado
transformed it into a thriving center for student activities and community events.

Photo: Delgado administrators with community partners and leaders cut the ribbon to
officially open the new Advanced Technology Center at the Delgado Community College West Bank Campus in Algiers. Shown
from left are Mack Cormier, State Representative, District 105; Kristin Palmer, Councilperson,
City of New Orleans, District C; Mark Major, Chairman, Board of Commissioners, Algiers
Development District; Richard Hartley, Senior Policy Advisor to the Governor; Dr.
Larissa Littleton-Steib, Delgado Community College Chancellor; Troy Carter, U.S. House
of Representatives; Brian Budd, CSRS; Gary Carter Jr., Representative, District 7;
Dr. Peter Cho, Delgado West Bank Campus Executive Dean and Business and Technology
Division Dean; Ron Bordelon, Chief Facilities Officer of the Louisiana Recovery School
District and Delgado Foundation Board Member; and Lee Georgio, Delgado Foundation
Board Chairman.

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This press release was produced by the Delgado Community College Jefferson Campus. The views expressed here are the author’s own.