Lauderdale County breaks ground on new Innovation Center
FLORENCE, Ala. (WHNT) — Lauderdale County Schools is expanding to meet the needs of its growing student body.
The district broke ground on the Innovation Center on Friday.
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The Lauderdale County Innovation Center will sit next to a Workforce Development Center and Agricultural Center. The project has been eight years in the making, and school leaders said the new facilities will create additional opportunities for students.
“We need to provide the best educational possible for them and when we can, expand our options and this is just an expansion of those options,” said Lauderdale County Schools Board President Ronnie Owens.
The Innovation Center will offer students various career tech programs and vocational training.
“The purpose of education is to get them ready for industry,” said Alabama Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth. “We want these students, when they graduate high school, to go right into a 21st century job.”
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Last year, the lieutenant governor issued the facility a $5 million grant.
“We want to make sure that our taxpayer dollars are going to educate all students, not just students that are going to college,” Ainsworth said.
The new school will replace the Allen Thorton Technical Center, but the new school will keep its name.
“We’ll be able to serve more students,” Allen Thorton Technical Center Principal Scott Jones said. “Right now, we’re full. We’ve had to turn some students away. This is also more centrally located. It will help the students on the West End to have less travel time and give them more time in the classroom.”
The new building could open for students as soon as 2026.
“This can be a life changer and a game changer not only for our student, but for our school system, and all of the surrounding area,” Owens said.
School leaders said the Innovation Center and Workforce Development Center will offer new classes and expanded hours. After the traditional school day, students and adults will be able to take courses to learn trade skills and gain additional certifications.
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