The College of Southern Maryland’s (CSM) Prince Frederick campus is going to expand. On Tuesday, Sept. 27 a sizable crowd gathered at the six-year-old campus at the Route 231- Williams Road intersection for a long-anticipated ground-breaking ceremony.
“This has been a journey,” said CSM President Dr. Bradley Gottfried, who thanked the current and previous boards of Calvert County Commissioners for agreeing to support the project. Gottfried also praised the county’s Maryland General Assembly delegation for their help in procuring state funds.
The nearly 30,000-square foot, two story, eco-friendly building will cost approximately $10.3 million and is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2013.
The new building will house two computer labs, two classrooms, two tutoring rooms, offices, a conference room and a fitness area. Approximately 3,000-square feet of the structure will contain CSM’s Nuclear Engineering Technology programs.
Gottfried told the gathering CSM’s long-range plan is to have five buildings on the parcel. This semester, Gottfried noted, CSM has almost 9,200 students enrolled at its four locations. “We need to continue to increase our facilities,” he said.
“I really think this is a tremendous progression,” said Maryland House of Delegates Minority Leader Anthony J. “Tony” O’Donnell [R-District 29C]. “This college binds us together as a region.”
Another state lawmaker, Del. Mark N. Fisher [R-District 27B] called the dedication of a large portion of the building to nuclear engineering technology “forward-thinking and beneficial.”
“It really does mean the college is moving forward,” said Commissioners’ President Susan Shaw [R], who added the nuclear tech program would address the great need for qualified workers the energy generating industry is expecting down the road.
“It was visionary people on the board of commissioners who made this happen,” said Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. [D-District 27].
The CSM students were also pleased with the pending expansion of the Prince Frederick campus. “It’s n
