2024 Fall Farm Outlook Lincoln Daily News Oct 2024 Page 23 Downing said that in designing the complex, HCC had consulted with industry experts to get a bigger picture of what was needed in the classroom environment in order for students to benefit the most. He noted as an example the shop area where students can get hands on experience with farm equipment mechanics. The shop has overhead doors that can be opened, and equipment driven into the shop area. Downing said that experts had been given a tour of the shop area and one noted that the door was not sufficient for modern tractors. Downing said that had been taken into consideration in the design and that any tractor on the market today would fit through the door. However, the expert said that within the next three years there will be tractors that are considerably larger than what is available today. Therefore, perhaps in as little as 12 months the doors in the plan were not going to work. Downing said that bit of expertise had made a big difference in the design of the shop and plans were modified so that now, HCC feels confident that the shop area will accommodate farm equipment size changes until at least 2028. Downing said that while some aspects of the complex appeared to be there for dramatic effect, which was cool, the real asset was access to the tools needed to further education. As an example, he pushed the button to a secondary overhead door, that opened into a classroom setting with large screen monitors on the walls and workstation tables set at each monitor. Downing said that the room was designed to accommodate viewing of diagrams and diagnostic information for vital areas of a piece of equipment but was also used for other interactive education. He noted that within the complex, most of the learning areas are not traditional desks all in a row forward facing, but are rather designed for workgroups and hands-on education. Continued --
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