Southeast : Construction Begins on Job Training Center

Plans to recycle former Navy land in Long Beach moved into the construction phase Tuesday as city officials broke ground for a federal job training center on the city’s westside.

The federal Department of Labor has pledged $25 million toward converting 17 acres of former Navy housing into a Job Corps center that will provide training and housing for nearly 300 unemployed people between the ages of 16 and 24.

The center is scheduled to open in mid-1997, when it will probably be the first of five projects to breathe life into the now-barren area. The site also has been chosen for a new high school and middle school, as well as transitional housing for the homeless and a Cal State Long Beach research park.

Department of Labor officials have not decided what type of training to provide at the center. However, they probably will offer lessons in computers, cooking, auto repair and hotel work, according to a Navy property consultant in Long Beach.

The facility--which will be funded by federal money--will be part of a program that has 112 centers nationwide and a nearly 70% job placement success rate.