BSC still on track to complete both historic projects on its schedule

Apr. 18—BLUEFIELD — Bluefield State College remains on track for two historic projects to be completed this year, moving its health sciences programs into a residential setting in the former Bluefield Regional Medical Center and providing its first on-campus student housing in more than 50 years.

Former State Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Benjamin, who was appointed as BSC's Executive Vice President and General Counsel last year, said both projects will help transform the college from primarily a local commuter school to a regional institution.

"This is a wonderful new chapter for the school and for the area," he said.

Renovations are already under way in what has been named the Bluefield State Medical Arts Center, which is housed in the former BRMC facility except for the Princeton Community Hospital (PCH) Bluefield Emergency Department and ambulatory health care unit.

Benjamin said the project merges nursing and medical arts for the college, with 200 beds available for the fall term this year.

"I am very confident of that date," he said. "We are on target."

Health science classes will be taught on the second floor of the center, he said, and the process of properly preparing that floor for instruction may not be completed until the end of the year and ready in January 2020, so classes may remain on campus for the fall semester.

"It is possible we will have it (instruction) ready in the fall," he said. "We want to get it done, but done right."

Part of the reason for the measured pace, he said, is the need to meet all regulatory requirements associated with not only the educational part but also the emergency department and health care side.

"Before we can build out the instruction side we have to make sure it is entirely separate (from the ER)," he said, and that includes not only a physical barrier but with all utility functions (including wiring and duct work) set up for independence because there can be no interference in any of the ER operations.

"The regulatory side of separating health care from the education side is daunting," but that part of the project should be finished during the summer.

However, students will be able to move into the medical arts center dorm part for the fall semester, he added, and food/dining services will be ready.

"This is an unprecedented undertaking," he said. "It involves a substantial amount of planning, coordination and oversight."

Benjamin said the college is working closely with PCH on the project.

"They have been wonderful to work with. They are true friends of the college."

Princeton Community Hospital purchased BRMC in 2019, but after the pandemic hit the hospital closed its doors, except for the emergency department, last summer.

The PCH Board of Directors approved the sale and transfer of the property to BSC late last year.

Benjamin said details of that complicated transaction have not yet been completed but should be within the next few weeks.

"We will lease back a portion ... to PCH," he said of the PCH Bluefield Emergency Department and the ambulatory health care part. "There will be no interruption in the current delivery of services."

With 200 beds available and the potential for continued growth in health science programs and training, and possibly a clinic of its own for the college, Benjamin said this is a groundbreaking, unique undertaking.

"When people look back 100 years from now, this will be a very important moment for the area," he said.

In the other major project, the first of four on-campus housing "quads" will also be completed this year, and be ready for students by the end of the year, if not before.

Ground was broken last year for the dorm, but several factors have created delays.

The quad, which will house 30 students, is one of four in Heritage Village planned in the lower parking lot area of the Othello Harris-Jefferson Student Center.

"There have been some unforeseen factors that have created challenges," Benjamin said, including the weather and "COVID has thrown a few curve balls."

But the primary challenges have been underground, he said, especially with old utility lines that, in many cases, are not shown on any map.

Regulations involved in that as well as the underground support of the building brought delays, he added, but all these challenges are being met.

"We are projecting beds will be available for students for the January term, but it is likely it will be before that," he said. "I believe we will have Heritage Village ready to go sometime this fall."

Benjamin said both of these projects are being coordinated, or "stacked," to provide the most efficient transitions.

"The key here is to get it done, but get it done correctly," he said.

Swope Construction is working on the first 11,175-sq.-ft. quad, which will house 30 students. With the eventual addition of the other three quads the number of students who will be able to live on campus will total 120.

Each unit will have seven two-person rooms on the first floor and eight on the second floor, with the laundry room located on the first floor.

Ground was broken on construction of the first quad last year.

"It's been 52 years since we have had housing on campus," BSC President Robin Capehart, who spearheaded the drive to bring the housing to campus, said at that time. "We know the impact it has on enrollment, especially with our African-American enrollment, so this is one of the things we set out to do when we started."

"This is not just an event," Rev. Garry Moore, chair of the BSC Board of Governors, said then. "This is a turning point in the life of Bluefield State College and the City of Bluefield. We have been trying to do this for 23 years."

Benjamin, who is from Charleston, said he is "excited" to be part of the college and these historic projects.

"This is a great area and we've got a good team put together," he said. "I just get the sense that the folks around here are a little excited about it. People are great here."

Benjamin praised Capehart, who took over the reins of the college in January 2019 as interim president then named president in September 2019, as a "visionary."

Serving as outside legal counsel for the college prior to joining it as a staff member, Benjamin's legal duties were expanded to include operations, policy and planning.

With a career as a distinguished jurist and attorney spanning over 35 years, Benjamin served as the Chief Justice and as a Justice of West Virginia's Supreme Court from 2005 through 2016. In addition to leading the Judicial Branch of West Virginia's government and participating in over 20,000 cases during his 12 years on the Supreme Court, Benjamin initiated several programs to serve West Virginia's citizens and its justice system, including the state's statewide Drug Court system patterned off Mercer County's local Drug Court.

"It is rare opportunity to work with such a talented group of individuals as are here at Bluefield State," Benjamin said when he joined the college last year. "With the vision, hard work and teamwork which has been exemplified by the Board of Governors, along with President Capehart, and the entire team here at the college, Bluefield State's future is both bright and assured. I look forward to serving the college, its mission, the students, the faculty and staff, and the community."

— Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com