1964

It began in 1964…

Operating on a whopping budget of $85,000, and an enrollment of 185 students, the Columbus Area Technician's School was fondly known as CATS, and had only been around for a year. Located in the basement area of a fully operating Central High School. 50-year old Clinton Tasch was "director" of CATS, directing activities of its 13 employees. Students were busy studying Business Data Processing, Electronics, Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering Technologies and Wholesale Management, but none had actually graduated yet. Two new technologies were Chemical Engineering Technology, terminated in 1973, and Wholesale Management, which fizzled out in the early 80's.

The small school had designs on a new location on Spring Street, the old Aquinas High School. But the property was in no shape for a technical school, and a little matter about its ownership had to be resolved! Surrounding the school were neighborhoods, small businesses, even abandoned properties. No one in 1964 could have imagined today's sprawling Columbus State campus on the modest parcels of land that once surrounded Aquinas High School.