Fayetteville-based modus designed Searcy agri tech center - Talk Business & Politics
Fayetteville-based architecture firm modus studio has broken ground on the $14. 6 million Searcy High School Agricultural Technical Center, a 28,000-square-foot modern training facility for the next generation of agricultural professionals. . . .
Fayetteville-based architecture firm modus studio has broken ground on the $14. 6 million Searcy High School Agricultural Technical Center, a 28,000-square-foot modern training facility for the next generation of agricultural professionals. Completion is targeted for fall 2027. The center features two 4,300-square-foot shop spaces with connected classrooms and offices designed to separate trades and reduce safety hazards, a wet lab with a surgery table for hands-on animal science instruction, and a 6,000-square-foot animal barn where show animals will be housed year-round. The district’s existing agriculture building, constructed in 1972, offers only 7,500 square feet, with woodworking and metalworking classes sharing the same space alongside more than a dozen students at a time. “Searcy’s agriculture program is serious, and the community proved it by voting to fund this,” said Josh Siebert, principal at modus studio. Searcy is not the only school district in the state looking to upgrade and modernize decades-old agriculture programs and buildings. There has been a push in other rural communities and smaller towns to develop new approaches to teaching agriculture for a new generation of farmers. “Arkansas is an agricultural state, and students who pursue this industry deserve a first-class facility that mirrors what they’ll encounter in college or the workforce,” said Dr. Bobby Hart, superintendent of Searcy School District. “Our mission is to graduate students ready for enrollment, enlistment or employment, and the new agricultural center supports that. ”Related