The innovative career center will prepare students for the workplace through a variety of pathways in career and technical fields. Programs include auto mechanics, collision repair, building maintenance, carpentry, welding, HVAC, electrical technology, machine tool trades, culinary arts, and cosmetology as well as programs in graphic design, law and public safety, health sciences, and coding application and game design. The facility also includes a physical education space and event venue as well as a full kitchen and dining space. This facility also has all the program support amenities of a high school including an outside walking track, outside basketball courts, and pickleball courts.

Graduates can also attend as a year fourteen student and participate in several selected programs. The facility will also be open after school hours for hobby classes and adult programs.

The existing painted masonry façade is clad in multicolored metal panels and horizontal windows. The existing main entrances were removed and reimagined with a glass façade that stretches into the existing building, creating an atrium that terminates at a lecture stair adjacent to the second-floor dining room. The two-story atrium is the focal point of the interior space, highlighting the classrooms that overlook the entrance corridor. All classrooms and lab areas have a glass entrance to showcase the technology and career learning that goes on inside the space.

Beyond function, the project also embodies a deeply rooted community legacy. Named in honor of West Virginia native and Medal of Honor recipient Hershel “Woody” Williams, the center carries forward a mission of service, resilience, and preparation for future success.

The Woody Williams Center for Advanced Learning and Careers was one of six projects funded through a bond passed by Cabell County voters in 2020. This is a groundbreaking project for Cabell County Schools and education design in West Virginia that reimagines an abandoned retail store into a career academy, showcasing technology and career education for high school students and adult education.