LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas is one step closer to having its first dental and veterinary school in the state.
After several months of uncertainty, Lyon College has finalized the locations for the schools in Little Rock and Cabot.
Lyon's President Melissa Taverner explained how even though they didn't get the original location they planned for, she's still happy with how it all turned out.
"The thought was that we would have both of the professional schools in the East Village and Little Rock, at a common site. And as the project went on, it became really hard to sort of make that happen," Taverner added.
Originally, Lyon planned to house both schools at Heifer International in Little Rock, but when the building deal fell through last November, she said they needed a backup plan.
"We started thinking, these two schools have very different needs, right? So perhaps it makes way more sense to split them into two different sites," she said.
The dental school will be in a building on Allied Drive in Little Rock's Riverdale neighborhood.
"One of the things that was important was can people get there? Can they find parking? Is there public transportation? And when we started looking around and found the opportunity in Riverdale it was like, they began checking boxes," she said.
Now that the state will soon have its first dental and veterinary school, Taverner said it will make a big impact.
"Without its own dental school, and without its own veterinary school, the students in Arkansas who are absolutely well qualified for those professions, they have to leave the state," she explained.
Lindy O'Neal with the Arkansas Veterinary Medical Association said she hopes the new vet school in Cabot will keep those students local as they start their careers.
"There's going to be some homework on the established veterinarian's side to want to mentor these students, show them the ropes, bring them in and give them opportunity for growth, and sustainability for lifestyle they want," O'Neal said.
Taverner said construction on the vet school should begin this summer with enrollment expected to begin next summer and fall.
As for the dental school, that building will still need to be renovated before it can begin accepting students.
Cabot Mayor Ken Kincade also said he's ecstatic for his city to be the site for the first veterinary school in Arkansas and its going to be a game changer for their community and economy.