The building, going up on a vacant tract at 2770 Red Lion Rd., is planned to be a consolidation site for campuses at 1330 Rhawn St., where courses in food service and five building trades take place, and 1845 Walnut St., which now houses the court reporting program and administrative offices. The JEVS Human Services affiliate of locally based Jewish Employment & Vocational Services operates the institute. A JEVS spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com the administrative offices will remain in the Walnut Street location when the new building opens in September 2007.

"The new building not only consolidates both campuses and expands the overall training space," the spokeswoman says, "but also provides our buildings trade schools with flexibility. The current facility has fixed concrete walls, which don't allow reconfiguration for different courses and programs." The new structure is designed by locally based Daley + Jalboot architects as an open plan with interior walls that can be easily reconfigured.

The institute has an annual enrollment of nearly 1,200. The JEVS spokeswoman says the school's largest fund-raising campaign has reached 60% of its $5-million goal. Alfred P. Orleans, the founder of Bensalem-based Orleans Homebuilders Inc., founded the institute in 1974. Jeffrey P. Orleans, his grandson and current chairman of the homebuilding firm, is a major contributor to the institute's building fund.