January 24th 2022 – Herald Tribune
• Halfacre Construction Co., based in Lakewood Ranch, recently broke ground on an 11,000-square-foot building for Harvest House, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the premise that all people deserve safe, stable housing.
Construction of the Life Enrichment Campus and repurposing of the existing 5,000-square-foot structure on site will include seven administrative offices, two private spaces for counseling, four classrooms, a 4,500-square-foot multipurpose space, two child care spaces and a catering kitchen.
The $2.5 million project started in fall 2021 and is slated for completion in fall 2022. Halfacre is performing the site development and construction of the new pre-engineered metal structure; Zoller Autrey Architects is partnering on the project.
The Life Enrichment Campus will be a hub for the community to access supportive and affordable housing, nutritious groceries, life skills support, addiction recovery and more.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Jan. 9 at the site, 3650 17th St., Sarasota.
• CareerEdge Funders Collaborative and Suncoast Technical Collegehave combined their efforts and resources to help students learn construction-related skills by building a tiny home on the school campus in Sarasota.
This is a first-of-a-kind training approach, where students took what they were taught in the classroom and immediately applied it in the field.
A ribbon cutting for the tiny home will be at 5 p.m. Feb. 3, on the STC Main Campus, 4748 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. The ribbon cutting will be held in conjunction with STC’s open house promoting its educational offerings.
Beginning in late 2020, STC students enrolled in the following programs worked together under the leadership of the instructors to draft and build the tiny home: plumbing; building trades and construction design technology; heating, ventilation and A/C refrigeration; drafting, advanced manufacturing and production technology; carpentry; electrician; and marine service technology.
Over the course of the project, 185 students earned a total of 145 industry-recognized certifications.
This project was made possible thanks to funding from Walt and Renee Eppard, who donated $35,000 to help purchase the supplies to build the home. Other donors include CareerEdge, Christopher Michiels Interiors, Alvin J. Singleton Roofing and PGT Innovations.
