On Jan. 27, Tarleton State University officials gathered for the grand opening of the new Agricultural Field Machinery & Fabrication Laboratory, located on the Tarleton College Farm.

Dr. Steve Damron, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, said, “The $3.8 million facility satisfies a critical need for high quality classroom and laboratory space.”

This new facility will allow for all the Ag Mechanics classes to be held in the same building for the first time.

“It strengths our ability to offer hands-on instruction,” Damron said.

The 24,000 square foot facility includes classrooms, a computer lab, metal fabrication and agricultural power and agricultural structure laboratories.

According to Damron, “This modern, well-equipped laboratory – one of the best in the nation – will allow us to develop new courses and programs to meet the ever-increasing workforce needs of the agricultural industries in Texas and beyond.”

The funding for the project was provided by The Texas A&M University System and private donations, predominately the Pevehouse Family Foundation.

The land where the new facility was built was purchased by citizens of Stephenville for Tarleton to join the Texas A&M University System.

President Dr. Dominic F. Dottavio, said in a press release, “Dedicating this new building on the land that the citizens of Stephenville purchased in 1917 to make it possible for Tarleton to join with Texas A&M reflects the university’s substantial growth and development from modest beginnings.”