The Meridian Community College-Riley Workforce Development Center receives its dedication at 10 a.m. Friday with a ceremony open to the public.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant is scheduled to be the keynote speaker.

The 81,000-square-foot facility, which has been open for use since the end of January, occupies the site of an old Wal-Mart building on Highway 19 North.

The project that began in 2007 when MCC purchased the Wal-Mart building and began to develop the property on a piecemeal basis. The college landed two major grants in 2015 – a $3.7 million award from the Riley Foundation and another of $1.5 million from the Economic Development Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, MCC President Scott Elliott said..

The center was designed by local architect B.B. Archer. It includes a 12,000-square-foot welding shop, 15 classrooms and five shop laboratories. Classrooms range from 16 to 250 in student capacity. There are 19 offices, a state-of-the-art multi-media conference room and a commercial grade catering kitchen, among other amenities, according to a college news release.

The total cost of renovation was roughly $7.2 million, according to the news release.

“This day has been a long time coming,” Elliott said in a statement. “It’s not like MCC wasn’t utilizing the old building. It’s just that we weren’t making substantive progress toward the dream of mustering a workforce center in which the community could take great pride, and one that would put us in a competitive position in the recruitment of new industry. The Riley Foundation made our dreams come true. If we hadn’t been awarded the grant from the Riley Foundation, we wouldn’t have had the leveraging power to qualify for the EDA grant. So, the Riley Foundation’s support caused all the pieces to start falling together.”

Elliott said MCC is “excited and honored” to have Bryant join in the celebration.

“I think Gov. Bryant will be remembered, among other accolades, as Mississippi’s workforce governor,” Elliott said in a statement. “I know during my 19 years as MCC’s president that I don’t think we’ve had a leader who has been any more focused on the development of a well-trained, viable workforce than Phil Bryant. So, it’s entirely appropriate that he help us dedicate this facility.”

The dedication program, also, will recognize the contributions of the Riley Foundation, Lauderdale County and the East Central Planning and Development District.

“MCC made the initial investment in the project by purchasing the property from Wal-Mart at a cost of $1.25 million,” Elliott said in a statement. “But at that time, it was just a big box that would hopefully one day facilitate a big dream. Our first partner in developing the facility was Lauderdale County when the board of supervisors pledged annual support of $250,000 to the project. That money enabled the college to start a welding program and an industrial maintenance program as well as defraying some of the operational expenses of the facility. The county has been a big part of this project from beginning to end. Most recently, the county resurfaced the center’s parking lot, which put the finishing touches on the facility.”