60 for 60: Opening the Northern Durham Center, first expansion of Durham Tech

In celebration of Durham Technical Community College’s 60th anniversary, the College is publishing 60 for 60 – a storytelling campaign that highlights the people, places, and events that have progressed and shaped the College’s six decades of impact. To view more 60 for 60 stories, visit www.durhamtech.edu/60for60. 

In the late 1980s, Durham Tech was growing on all fronts and bursting at the seams for classroom space. 

Leadership at the College knew it was time to expand, and in 1989, 27 acres of land were purchased on Snow Hill Road to construct the Northern Durham Center (NDC). 

In a message to the campus community in 1989, then-President Phail Wynn Jr. announced the project. 

“The northern campus will be built in five phases over a period of ten to fifteen years. The first of these phases includes a 30,000-square-foot, multipurpose building,” Wynn said.

The College broke ground in 1992 and this marked its first expansion project. 

At that time, Durham Tech planned to offer curriculum programs, information for small businesses, and training for area businesses at NDC. 

In 1993, Barbara Baker, former Durham Tech Associate Dean and Department Head, Educational Resources Coordinator and Library Services employee was named Director of NDC. 

When the Northern Durham Center opened its doors in the Fall of 1993, Public Service programs such as Basic Law Enforcement Training, Criminal Justice Technology, Emergency Management, Robotics, and Fire Protection courses were offered. University Transfer courses were later offered too. 

Baker said the College had an opportunity to try new things and be responsive to the community, students, and newness of the Center.  

“By moving these programs to the Northern Durham Center, the College will be able to accept more students into these programs and, as a result, be able to provide the community with greater numbers of well-trained public safety professionals,” she said.   

Since NDC is 12 miles from Main Campus, the Center acted as a full-service campus and offered all resources that students needed.   

“For the first time, they’ll have a comprehensive criminalistics lab, including an interrogation room. They’ll also have the space and facilities needed for physical training,” Baker said.   

Some of the first faculty and staff at NDC were Dr. Randall Egsegian, Dr. Cliff Harbour, Chris Herring, Doug Scott, Jim Steinberg, Lee Toomer, Dr. Bill Sewell, and Barbara Baker.  

Randall Egsegian, current Director of Public Safety at Durham Tech, highlighted some of his favorite memories while teaching at NDC, including a Public Service marketing campaign called “Pig Fest” to attract high school students. 

“When I arrived in 1993, I was given an electric typewriter and an adding machine which I still have and use today. There were whiteboards in each classroom,” he said. “We used overhead projectors and acetate sheets. My first computer was an IBM, but we did not have printers at first.”  

Today, the Northern Durham Center has two buildings and continues to be an important College campus that makes education more accessible for residents of northern Durham and Orange counties.  

Current courses include Basic Law Enforcement Training, Criminal Justice Technology, Emergency Management, Fire Protection Technology, Electric Line Technician, Fire Service Extension and Law Enforcement Extension. 

For more information, contact Desiree Towson, M.S., Communications and Public Relations Coordinator, at allisontowsond@durhamtech.edu.