Groundbreaking News
Construction is now underway on the Danny Lang Teaching, Learning & Event Center at Umpqua Community College’s Southern Oregon Wine Institute.
Construction, overseen by general contractor R.E. Noah and Company of Roseburg, began Sept. 10 with the traditional shovel ceremony joined by many leaders of UCC, the Southern Oregon wine industry and the capital campaigners that made the day happen.
Beginning in April 2010, the capital campaign to build a teaching, learning and event center and winery began with a gift of $800,000 from Douglas County attorney Danny Lang. Over the next five months, the capital campaign has raised $1,411,220 in local funds, excluding grants. As a consequence, this campaign has raised more money locally in a shorter time than any other capital campaign in Douglas County.
The Lang Center — measuring 24,000 square feet — will be two stories tall and embedded into the hillside on the west end of the campus with a five-acre vineyard around it. The facility will have two classrooms, one classroom/lab, an enology lab, a privately operated
testing laboratory serving the regional industry, a tasting room and event center, a covered crush pad, a culinary arts kitchen, a food and wine pairing center, a fermentation room, three wine cellars and a terrace and courtyard.
SOWI plans to implement a wine incubator program, allowing graduating viticulture and enology students to crush fruit, as well as ferment, bottle and store their wine for up to two years. The event center will accommodate 250 guests for dinner, 500 for conferencing and 250 in the terrace and courtyard area. UCC’s Culinary Arts program will operate the catering program.
ETS Labs, of St. Helena, Calif., will invest $500,000 and two employees in their proprietary laboratory in the facility. ETS Labs’ employees will help teach the enology students and provide training to the regional wine industry through UCC’s Learning Management System, an online teaching platform.
Construction plans call for The Lang Center to be open for students and the community in the fall of 2011.
