It’s easy to talk about teamwork and building camaraderie among employees. But soon there will be a place where those ideas will be put into physical action. On Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 2 p.m., Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College will unveil its new ropes challenge course at the Jackson County Campus in Gautier. The ropes course is part of the college’s outdoor recreation program.

“We want the Outdoor Recreation Leadership Center to be more than just an academic class,” said Dr. Wayne Taylor, Gulf Coast Outdoor Recreation instructor.

The course is designed to challenge individuals and groups on problem solving, teamwork and communication. The course features 12 ground-level challenges like the cargo net, the spider’s web, the swinging log and the tire swing. There are also 10 challenges in the air. One of them is 38 feet in the air.

“It’s all about the perception of risk,” Taylor said. “This should be a confidence builder for groups and individuals.”

Dr. Rick Christmas, Jackson County Campus vice-president, said all of the challenges will be supervised by trained facilitators.

“It’s a community effort on the ropes course,” Christmas said. “We want this project to be community oriented.”

The course is the first part of the $5.5 million expansion project that will expand the Environmental Science Technology program at the JC Campus. In August the Gulf Coast Board of Trustees approved the bid for both the Outdoor Recreation Leadership and Environmental Science facilities in the Estuarine Education Center and construction should begin within 30 days to be completed in 14 months. 

“We want to educate people, and at the same time preserve the environment,” Christmas said.

The whole concept came out of an educational and environmental idea that began in 1999 and is in the middle of being implemented. At the northern end of the JC Campus, 34 acres of land are being developed for a laundry list of projects, while at the same time keeping the area’s woodlands and wetlands intact.

“It’s part of the Pascagoula River basin,” said Christmas. “All of that ties into the project,” which features an Outdoor Recreation Leadership Center on the banks of Mary Walker Bayou, a Marine Technology Facility, a 1 ½ mile walking trail, and the  ropes challenge course.