Richmond Community College will break ground on the new F. Diane Honeycutt Center in Laurinburg on Monday at 10 a.m. during an event meant to ceremoniously kick-off construction on what will become the RCC Scotland County Campus.

The $3.5 million facility, which will be over 18,000 square feet, will house RCC's Practical Nursing program as well as a multi-purpose space designed to be used for a variety of industrial training operations.

RCC President Sharon Morrissey encouraged locals to come out for the event, which will celebrate the culmination of years of effort on the part of people from both the Laurinburg and Richmond County areas.

The center was named after RCC President Emeritus Dr. Diane Honeycutt by the RCC Board of Trustees this month to honor her efforts to see RCC's presence in Scotland County grow.

"It had always been a vision of (Honeycutt's) to expand RCC's offerings in Scotland County ... (and) she gave it her all to make this new building a reality," said Trustee Mary Jo Adams of Laurinburg.

Adams noted that the land upon which the center will stand, which was the site of the old Laurinburg hospital, used to be "an eyesore with broken windows and overgrown weeds.".

The hospital grounds were cleared and cleaned in late 2007. It was at that time, with $3.5 million raised to go toward construction ($200 thousand short of the goal), that plans to continue were given the green light.

Support for the project came, Adams said, from visionary people in both counties, including those in the city and county governments of Scotland County. She also noted that Honeycutt assisted RCC Trustee Sam Snowdon as he chaired the $400,000 RCC Foundation Capital Campaign for the project.

Grant money amounting to over $2 million was also acquired thanks to the collaborative efforts of the college and the City of Laurinburg, Adams said.

The Scotland County Board of Commissioners' involvement in the project was made official in November 2003 when the board unanimously voted "to endorse the effort to raise funds to be used to demolish the old hospital and to help with the construction of the satellite campus for Richmond Community College."

"This isn't just a Scotland County project," said Adams, crediting the RCC Board of Trustees and the RCC administration with much of the work.

Looking forward, Morris sees the center as only the latest result of what will be the continuing joint work of RCC and Scotland County.

"We hope to continue our role as a member of Scotland County's economic development team," Morris said.

Considering the current economic climate, raising money for the center was no small feat. As recently as their April meeting the RCC trustees sent along a budget request to the Scotland County Board of Commissioners with projected budget increases based upon occupancy of the center, signifying that the project's impact on local budgets continues to change.

The Laurinburg City Council had discussed utilizing the buildings currently in use by RCC that will be vacated upon completion of the new campus.