ST. GEORGE — Gaining a real-world experience versus their usual conceptual assignments was the highlight for students at Dixie Technical College who designed cabins to be built in Utah state parks. Dignitaries from the state parks and the Utah Legislature recently honored the students.

“I came into this drafting and design program because I wanted to draw homes, and I’ve grown a bigger passion for architecture and love it. This project, in particular, was a lot of fun because it was a real-world project,” M’Kayla Foster, a student from Southern Utah, told St. George News. “A lot of the projects we do here are conceptual, so to be able to work on something and put every single piece together and how it would turn out in the real world was really special.”

Her professor, Bill McMurrin, said this opportunity had the right timing for the current curriculum. He said the college often gets business requests, but the timing is off.

“We often get requests for real-world project design stuff, but it often doesn’t fit with the curriculum and what we need to be teaching. But this was an exception,” McMurrin said. “And this group was just starting a class and it fit right into it. That’s what we did. And what they’ve put together is impressive enough that the state parks have decided to build all five of them.”

Five students in the drafting and design program at Dixie Technical College designed the buildings to be mobile upon a trailer with wheels. The trailer part was provided by the engineering program at Southern Utah University, with Cedar City assisting.

“So it’s been a little bit of a collaborative effort,” McMurrin said. “And I think you can see what the five students have done is rather impressive, especially since the state parks have decided to build on it.”

The idea of creating overnight rental spaces in state parks by people in Utah instead of ordering elsewhere came from Utah Rep. Walt Brooks. According to a news release, Brooks wanted to create an innovative and local solution to bring vacation houses to state parks.

This new partnership with students is a collaborative effort between the Utah Division of State Parks, Dixie Technical College and Southern Utah University.

A Dixie Tech student from Salt Lake City said she had been an artist her whole life and decided to major in drafting.

“I picked drafting and design because I’ve been an artist my whole life, and I wanted to use my design skills in a more practical way. And I was interested in architecture,” Rebecca Ryan said. “Our cabin projects were really interesting. We got some real-world experience and worked on a project from start to finish. And we got to work with people from the state of Utah. And it was a really cool experience with all of my other classmates.”

In an email to St. George News, Scott Strong, who serves as deputy director for Utah state parks, said the experience is not a replacement for that traditional study but a great addition to it.

“These designs not only help further the students’ learning but also benefit future park visitors,” Strong said. “These visitors will be able to make lasting memories at these sites, all because of the hard work and dedication of these students.”

He said the project was a wonderful collaborative experience, and the Utah Division of State Parks looks forward to partnering with Utah students in the future.

“It’s been amazing to work with students,” Strong said. “My dream and my vision are now that we have the drawings that we’ll be able to produce them. They’ll be designed and manufactured in Utah by students.”

Strong and Utah Rep. Walt Brooks recently visited the Dixie Tech campus to present plaques to the drafting and design program students, which included M’Kayla Foster, Rebecca Ryan, Taylee Wood, Ethan Jeffs and Darci Hafen. Their professor, McMurrin, also received a plaque.

Dixie Technical College President Jordan Rushton congratulated the students on their hard work.

“Certainly I think all of these students would agree that it improved their experience by having something real that they could do, and that’s what we’re all about here,” Rushton said.

Currently, there is one cottage open and ready for reservations at Jordanelle State Park. Additional cottages are coming online this season at Antelope Island State Park, Echo State Park, East Canyon State Park, Gunlock State Park, and Sand Hollow Hollow State Park.

Current cottages were not designed by students and were purchased from a manufacturer. Strong said future cabins would be from the new program with the students.

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