Photos by Nancy Bloom; text by K.C. Myers
HARWICH — The newly renovated Cape Cod Regional Technical High School opened to students in September, but, because of the pandemic, even their parents have not seen the inside. The Independent got a rare tour from Principal Billy Terranova when the students were out of the building.
The 220,000-square-foot building cost the district — which includes Mashpee, Barnstable, Yarmouth, Dennis, Harwich, Chatham, Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown — $128 million. During our tour, the dust was still settling from the demolition of the old 214,000-square-foot school building next door, dating from 1975.
Cape Cod Tech offers 15 technical career pathways — carpentry, electrical, horticulture, HVAC, plumbing, culinary arts, cosmetology, health technology, dental, design and visual communication, engineering, information technology, auto collision, auto technology, and marine services — in addition to academic departments. The new design groups academic spaces around technical spaces to foster a sense of community and collaboration.
The school is hosting a Virtual Tech Night, open to all, on Thursday, Dec. 10, from 6 to 8 p.m., at capetech.us. There will be a virtual tour, as well as conversations with students and teachers.
The café, where the culinary arts students practice, will welcome the public (post-pandemic) near the front entrance. It offers indoor and outdoor seating with a bright industrial vibe.
The cosmetology salon will someday open to the public, but in the meantime, the students — and the mannequin heads on which they practice — enjoy the new space.
This plumbing classroom has space, light, and modern tools to work with.
The new auto body shop is bigger and brighter, but some classics, like the teacher’s hot rod, never change.
Dental tech students are greeted with smiles every day they attend class.
Cape Cod Tech still has a library, which serves as a gathering place and study space.
