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CCCC Lifelong Learning Center hosts open house

10.12.2010 • College & Community, Special Events

SANFORD - Central Carolina Community College invites everyone to an Open House for its Lifelong Learning Center and the historical facility in which it is located. The Open House takes place 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, at the Center, located at the W.B. Wicker Business Campus, 900 S. Vance St.

Opportunities for adult education will be featured, from cake decorating to adult high school. There will also be free blood sugar and eye tests. Refreshments will be served.

"The college is so appreciative of the public officials and civic members that came together to make this Center a reality for students," said Stelfanie Williams, the college's vice president over the Economic and Community Development Division. "W.B. Wicker School has been a vigorous institution of learning from the beginning, and with the Lifelong Learning Center that legacy continues, benefitting the entire community."

Visitors can also tour the building. W.B. Wicker School (then known as Lee County Training School) was completed in 1927 to serve black students in Lee County. Its construction was paid for, in part, by the Rosenwald Fund, which helped build schools for black youth throughout the South during the first part of the 20th century. Wicker was one of the largest Rosenwald Fund schools in North Carolina and stands as one of the few remaining. As such, it is on the U.S. Interior Department's list of historical places.

The facility declined following school integration in 1969, fell into disrepair and became an eyesore. Sanford attorney William Wilson Jr. purchased the property in 1997 to prevent the school's being razed. In 2001, he deeded it to Brick Capital Community Development Corporation. BCCDC spearheaded the renovation of the historical facility to serve as the revitalized heart of its community and an educational and economic resource for all of Lee County. It was renamed the W.B. Wicker Business Campus.

Central Carolina Community College's Lifelong Learning Center now occupies most of the Wicker campus, including the main building and two large classroom pods. Its dental hygiene and dental assisting programs opened in 2007 in a state-of-the-art clinic and laboratory at Wicker.

In 2010, the college moved its Lee County adult education and continuing education classes from the Jonesboro Center, the former Jonesboro Elementary School, to Wicker.

Also housed at Wicker is the college's administrative office for the Triangle South Workforce Development Board. That board oversees federal Workforce Investment Act funds in the college's service area of Chatham, Harnett, and Lee counties, as well as Sampson County.

"We hope people will come and learn about the educational opportunities the college is offering at this community-centered location," said CCCC President Bud Marchant. "The college is a partner in the educational, economic and cultural life of our area and this facility is one more location where we can reach out and serve."

CCCC Lifelong Learning Center hosts open house

The historical W.B. Wicker School, beautifully renovated and restored by Brick Capital Community Development Corporation, has become the W.B. Wicker Business Campus. The facility is now home to Central Carolina Community College's Lifelong Learning Center. The college invites everyone to visit the Center and the historical facility in which it is located at an Open House 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14. The W.B. Wicker Business Campus is located at 900 S. Vance St., Sanford. Opportunities for adult education will be featured, from cake decorating to adult high school. There will also be free blood sugar and eye tests. Refreshments will be served.