GAINESVILLE – A little over two years ago - September 9, 2016, to be exact - Governor Nathan Deal was one of many area leaders who turned over shovelfuls of red Georgia soil as part of the groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction for the new campus of Lanier Technical College.
Today he returned to almost the exact same spot, and with many of the same people in attendance he helped cut the red ribbon in a ceremony marking the opening of the new home of Lanier Technical College.
The ribbon-cutting launched the start of an all-day celebration that would end with a concert and fireworks.
The weather was ideal on the quad surrounding the ribbon cutting event, much unlike the drizzle, fog and muddy shoes that were part of the initial celebration 25-months ago; but what has not changed is Deal’s strong commitment to education, particularly technical education.
Deal says his reasoning is simple. “The impact of someone who acquires a skill and can get a job to support themselves and to support their families is one of the bedrocks of a solid community and a solid state.”
Lanier Tech traces its origin to plans unveiled in 1964 and students enrolled in 1966.
According to the college’s website, LTC has now undergone something very unusual: moving onto an entirely new campus. Classes for the January, 2019, semester will move from Mundy Mill Road in Oakwood - home for half a century - to the new 95-acre site at the intersection of SR365 and Howard Road.
LTC President Ray Perren told the huge audience attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony that shortly after coming to the college in 2013 he had an idea that he thought would be panned, and panned unanimously.
He said, “When I first arrived I was encouraged to think big, so I met with several people in our community…and shared the idea ‘What if Lanier Tech had a new campus and we gave our existing campus over to the University of North Georgia?’.”
Perren said no one he spoke to shot down his idea, much to his surprise. Instead the wheels began to turn and, “all these people together encouraged us to think big and really be visionary on what we thought technical education should be in this state, not just for 2018 but also for 2075 and beyond.”
The rest, as they say, is history.
But one small task, Perren said, still needed to be accomplished: two of the buildings on the campus had yet to be named. Their anonymous status would be short lived.
It was announced that one of the buildings would be named in honor of Governor Nathan Deal.
Deal then spoke for about 20-minutes, showing emotion as he in turn announced that the remaining nameless building would bear the name of his longtime campaign aid, and now Chief of Staff, Chris Riley.
Deal said Riley worked at the grass roots level as his representative in the building of the new Lanier Tech campus. Deal said Riley invested hundreds of hours fleshing out the details of the ambitious building project.
“The reason that I have emphasized what Chris has done is because I have the pleasure of announcing to you that the instructional building on this campus will be named after Chris Riley,” Deal said.
Riley is a graduate of North Hall High School who knew the Deal children and eventually became a part of Deal’s team in 1992.
