Breathitt ATC Opens Lakeside Campus

After years of work remodeling, the Breathitt Area Technology Center welcomed students on January 20.

The newly remodeled vocational education center was approved for occupancy, and classes began at the multi-million-dollar, state-of-the-art center, which houses the Breathitt County Vocational School, bus garage, central storage, technology department, and school maintenance department.

The Vocational School has been housed at the Lees Campus of Hazard Community College in Jackson since the devastating 2022 flooding, which destroyed the buildings on the Bobcat Lane campus.

The original Breathitt County Vocational School was constructed in 1961 and dedicated on June 1, 1962.  Named the Breathitt-Sloniker Vocational School, it started offering classes to high school students and “out-of-school and young married men” in a variety of practical trades, including auto-body and paint.  The school was later expanded in 1968 and renamed in honor of Congressman Carl D. Perkins.

Generations of area students attended the school and went on to successful careers.

On January 23, 2018, the Board of Education voted to begin the process of replacing the outdated technology center.  Mother Nature helped accelerate that process.

During the 2021 flood and again in July 2022, the school was destroyed after several feet of water inundated the building and its contents.  The Breathitt County School System acquired the former Appalachian Regional Manufacturing (Prestolite) building and began remodeling, with groundbreaking in May 2024. 

“The Board of Education has made it a mission to put students first in all decision-making,” Board Chairman Ruschelle Hamilton said in 2024.  “We are now embarking upon another historical moment for our district.” 

After the certificate of occupancy was issued, the building was opened to students, and the school began migrating classes from the Lees Campus to the new center on January 20.

A Grand Opening Ceremony and open house are currently planned for February 9, 2026, at 12:30 p.m. to showcase the new building and highlight the improvements.  The public is invited to attend and help celebrate the addition of the new facility.