Writer: Erick Pirayesh and Scott Buffon, News Editor and Staff Writer
October 22, 2012
Filed under News, On campus, Top Stories

The decision to build a new West Campus Classroom Building will be decided at the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday.

After a structural assessment found 22 East Campus portable buildings to be unsafe and in violation of the California Coastal Act, Superintendent-President Lori Gaskin proposed to build a new $18.7-million permanent classroom building to replace the portables. Gaskin is proposing to use the remaining $17.6-million in Measure V bond funds to finance the construction.

“We’re not talking about necessarily taking the functionality of what those portables do now and duplicating them into a new classroom building,” said Gaskin at the Monday Oct. 22 facilities committee meeting. “It hasn’t been determined and that’s what is being worked out.”

The proposed building would be built near the West Campus bus roundabout where several portable buildings are currently located north of the Garvin Theatre. These portables are currently serving as swing space to accommodate those who were previously located in the Humanities Building, which is still under construction.

Kruger Bensen Ziemer architects, hired by the college, estimated the maximum size and cost of the new building based on a capacity of 45-50 students per classroom. According to estimates, the building would be over 30,000 square feet, three stories high and contain up to 24 classrooms sized at 960 square feet each.

“We’ve lost any logic to the way were scheduling [classes],” said Peter Naylor, economics professor. “If we have this building we can say ‘what makes sense in terms of location to have the best teaching situation.’”

Gaskin is also stressing the importance of keeping the new building environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

“I am chagrined that we have not pursued green building to the extent that we should,” Gaskin said. “How much can we make this building signature in terms of green?”

The next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday Oct. 25.

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