EDITORIAL: Carlton Construction Academy funding is welcome news

Word Wednesday that the nearly $5 million funding for the expansion and renovation of the Carlton Construction Academy at Albany Technical College had been added to the state of Georgia’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget was welcome news for Albany and Southwest Georgia.

Earlier in the session, the $4.9 million project appeared to be destined for funding in a later year, but the continuing efforts by members of metro Albany’s legislative delegation and the willingness of state leadership to take another look after the funding initially was left out combined to create an opportunity that will benefit our region and the state.

The academy opened eight years ago, made possible by donations toward construction of the $2 million facility by the Carlton family, which operated part of the equipment business there before selling the business in 2002, and a $1.83 million renovation appropriation by the General Assembly in its FY 2006 budget. Albany Tech President Anthony Parker noted that $7 million in non-state funding was used in Phase I development of the facility.

The academy, which expanded Albany Tech’s teaching space by 50,000 square feet, houses construction trade programs, including masonry, construction management, carpentry, plumbing and industrial air conditioning.

The second phase of the project, which would be funded through the FY 2018 appropriation, will add 23,225 more square feet and provide space for ATC’s diesel technology classrooms.

While nothing is a done deal in the political realm, state Sen. Freddie Powell Sims, D-Dawson, said that Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, House Appropriations Committee Chair Terry England and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Jack Hill were “major factors” in obtaining the funds. With that level of support, the academy’s prospects certainly look promising.

Students who will learn at these facilities are the ones who also will be instrumental in many of the aspects of the recovery of Albany and the region from the January storms, a process that will not be accomplished overnight. The renovation project, among other aspects, will help our region help itself in that recovery.

What it all amounts to is politics — that thing we all take some pleasure in maligning — operating for the general public good. Those in the delegation — Sims and Reps. Ed Rynders, R-Leesburg; Darrel Ealum, D-Albany; Gerald Greene, R-Cuthbert, and Winfred Dukes, D-Albany — as well as the governor, lieutenant governor and the legislative appropriations chairs, deserve recognition for advocating and facilitating this project.

It’s an investment that will pay off for everyone in the end.