Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor Juan Salgado to announce plans to restart construction on the Transportation, Distribution and Logistics (TDL) Center at Olive-Harvey College. The Illinois Capital Development Board (CDB) will resume the project, which was shuttered by the State of Illinois during the ongoing state budget impasse. The facility is the first-of-its-kind in Illinois, and will prepare students for the hundreds of thousands of jobs coming to the region over the next decade. The 103,000 square foot Olive-Harvey facility has been designed with input from City Colleges’ College to Careers faculty and industry partners. Through College to Careers, City Colleges faculty and staff partner with industry leaders to design curriculum and facilities and offer a first pass and interviews for internships and job opportunities so that Chicagoans are ready to hit the ground running in fast-growing fields such as transportation, logistics and distribution. The Governor’s office recently released state funding for the facility to the CDB; they subsequently outlined intentions to restart the TDL project. The CDB, City Colleges and contractors involved will meet this month about resumption of the project. The facility will include automotive and diesel engine laboratories, an engine dynamometer, classrooms, simulated driving facilities, a testing area and vehicle bays, among other features. The project is targeting LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.