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June 2, 2021

Hazel Hall finally begins rising on LFCC campus

Workmen set Hazel Hall steel beams Wednesday. Photos/Lawrence Emerson

Supporters head for the ceremonial beam signing.

LFCC President Kim Blosser welcomes the audience.

William Hazel Jr. and brother David Hazel sign the beam.

Danny Hazel’s inscription pays tribute to his late parents.

Weather permitting, all the steel should get installed over the next six weeks.

Fundraising for Hazel Hall began in 2013.

Site work started on the Fauquier Campus at the beginning of April.

Janet and Bob Sowder donated “The Barn,” land and funds to start the campus.

Dr. Blosser’s inscription reflects the long wait.

It is going to change the way we offer programs. And, after the pandemic, we know how important those programs are.

— LFCC President Kim Blosser

Hazel Hall

• What: Two-story, 40,000-square-foot health professions, science and technology building.

• Where: Fauquier Campus of Lord Fairfax Community College, just southeast of Warrenton.

• Cost: $30 million.

• Features: Labs for engineering, fabrication, nursing skills, science and simulation; classrooms; conference center; faculty offices, and study spaces.

• Construction: Started in April with completion slated for summer 2022.

• Contractor: Kjellstrom + Lee Construction

• Architect: Grimm + Parker

• Named for: The late Eleanor C. and William A. Hazel, who lived near Broad Run.

By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Editor

Without saying a word, the Lord Fairfax Community College president Wednesday morning summarized backers’ sentiment about the science and technology building under construction just south of Warrenton.

“It’s about time!” Kim Blosser wrote next to her name on a steel beam that will help support the 40,000-square-foot Eleanor C. and William A. Hazel Hall on LFCC’s Fauquier Campus.

Eight years ago, the Hazel family pledged $1 million toward construction of the building, the total cost of which has risen to more than $30 million.

Bureaucratic and budget challenges long past, construction started in April. The college hosted a brief ceremony for donors and other supporters to sign the beam, which should get set atop the two-story structure by late July.

Hazel Hall will open in the fall of 2022, dramatically expanding instructional and meeting space on the Fauquier Campus.

“It is going to change the way we offer programs,” Dr. Blosser said in opening remarks. “And, after the pandemic, we know how important those programs are.”

She noted the efforts of nursing students and their instructors to continue critical hands-on training — along with practical work of “contract tracing” and administering vaccines — as the community battled COVID-19.

Much of that work took place in “The Barn,” the building that Bob and Janet Sowder donated for the Fauquier Campus that opened in January 1989.

The campus has grown dramatically, with construction of Wolk Hall, the main academic building, and the Sowder Library.

Dr. Bill Hazel Jr. recalled former state Sen. Russ Potts (R-Winchester) and college representatives visited him years ago and said: “ ‘We want to build a building and name it for your parents’.”

Passionate advocates for education, Mr. and Mrs. Hazel died in 2012 and 2020, respectively.

“I think they would be very proud,” Dr. Hazel told the crowd Wednesday. “Coming from a family where all of us went to a four-year institution, it’s hard to realize we are a minority . . . .

“Please, continue to support this institution and our way of life.”

Chris Coutts, the Fauquier Campus provost, also highlighted LFCC’s role as a trade school and a junior college.

“One of the things we’re really have been trying to do is to focus on the trades part of our mission,” Dr. Coutts said. “This building allows us to grow . . . . It will give students opportunities to really practice and get the hands-on skills they need.”

The LFCC Foundation also soon hopes to begin construction of a pure trades building on Fauquier Campus land that the county donated, he added.

“In a couple of years, you’re gonna be very, very surprised at how this campus has grown,” Dr. Coutts said. “We are so grateful, and we want more.”

The project’s total cost includes $3 million that the LFCC Foundation raised for site work, which the state doesn’t cover for new construction at community colleges.

The local share includes a $250,000 donation from the Barkman family, owners of Golden Rule Builders in Catlett, and a $20,000 donation from the Sowders, the most consistent supporters of the college.

In 2018, the PATH Foundation gave $1 million.

Contact Editor “Lou” Emerson at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 540-270-1845.