Chattanooga officials moved a step closer Friday to building Volkswagen’s training facility by approving $40 million in funding for the facility, which is on a tight construction schedule.
The city’s Health, Educational and Housing Facility Board approved the state’s $40 million allocation for the VW Academy Training Center. That clears the way for the city’s Industrial Development Board to receive the money.
“This is a very important item ... for the Volkswagen site,” Steve Leach, the city’s public works administrator, told the board.
Construction is expected to start in early May, said city engineer Bill Payne. The building will be weather proofed in September so machinery and mechanical equipment can be installed by the end of December. Volkswagen would like to start training workers Jan. 1, he said.
The state-of-the-art center’s training equipment will include robots, said Gary Hilbert of the city’s Land Development Office. Sections of the building, or pods, will have various training functions as well as classrooms. Chattanooga State Technical Community College will run the center under an eight-year agreement.
The 160,000-square-foot training center will sit on a hill overlooking the car plant, Mr. Hilbert said. Training center visitors will enter through the car plant’s security section and walk there across a bridge that will be built over a relocated stream, he said.
City officials have seen only partial architectural plans for the training center, Mr. Hilbert said, because Volkswagen has an architect working on some of the details. The manufacturer’s temporary visitor center will be next to the training center, he said.
The steel-frame training center will be built of exterior insulated metal panels and glass on the front, Mr. Hilbert said, and will have roll-up doors in the back.
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