Tacoma Community College officials have announced that construction of the new Harned Center for Health Careers is scheduled to begin next week.

Contractor S.D. Deacon Corp. will be on campus today to fence off construction areas. On Monday, construction will begin with the building’s geothermal heating/cooling system. More than 100 geothermal wells will be dug in Parking Lot C. In addition, a large storm water vault will be installed in Parking Lot D, and connections to city water and other services will be installed.

Parking will no longer be available in large sections of lots C and D, and the Mildred Street entrance to lots C and D will be closed. Digging the geothermal wells is expected to take about four months, but the parking lot construction areas will be closed for the duration of the building construction. Some 150 geothermal wells, located in Parking Lot C and the campus central quad, will provide heating and cooling for the Harned Center. Well-drilling rigs will be in place at the geothermal dig locations for about four months.

In October 2010, Tacoma Community College received the largest single gift in the 45-year history of the college from Tacoma resident H.C. “Joe” Harned to support health careers training. Harned, 93, has been a supporter of higher education for many years at area colleges and universities and in his hometown of Ursina, Penn. He has funded scholarships at Tacoma Community College for the past six years. The college’s board of trustees voted name the new Health Careers Center in honor of Harned. The Harned Center for Health Careers will house all health care training. The building’s design will simulate the environment of a health care facility, allowing students to learn in a setting based on the hospitals or clinics they will work in once they graduate.

Tacoma Community College was established in 1965. It serves approximately 9,000 students each quarter at campuses in Tacoma and Gig Harbor.