FERRIDAY — The road to success is still under construction in Ferriday, but not for too much longer.

Renovations on the Central Louisiana Technical College Shelby M. Jackson Ferriday Campus are near completion and school officials hope to open its doors in March.

The $5.2 million project includes an 11,500-square-foot addition to the nursing school in the campus’ main building and renovations to the existing 10,900 square feet of the building.

Campus Dean Mignonne Ater said the construction companies are in the last phases of the construction process.

“The building itself will be done on March 1, but the return of the main campus might be delayed for a week or two due to IT infrastructure matters,” Ater said. “Right now we’re just trying to finish up everything.”

The renovations to the campus are a part of Act 391 facilities project that was passed during the 2007 legislative session that is providing 23 projects for 14 community and technical colleges in the state, totaling $173.7 million.

Ater said seeing the construction from start to finish has been a dream come true and that she is excited to open its doors to current and new students.

“It’s a building that I think everyone will be extremely proud of,” Ater said. “It’s very exciting, and we can’t wait until we’re moved in and get to show it off to the community.”

Construction crews also converted existing spaces on campus into a multipurpose room that seats approximately 300 people.

Ater said that several existing areas were completely gutted and renovated.

“It was a major expansion, but also a total renovation,” Ater said. “Essentially, it’s going to be a brand new campus.”

With the end of spring semester on the horizon, Ater said current students will transfer to the new building mid-semester and that a new wave of students will break the facilities in for the summer semester.

As construction crews finish last-minute details, Ater said a cleanup crew will enter and prep the building for a grand opening ceremony in late March.