The $98 million raised from Measure G, which passed on March 5, will be divided into three phases over the next eight years that will support renovation of the Vaquero Gym, construction of new parking structures, purchases of new buildings to expand ACTC, upgrades of campus technology, campus infrastructure and the science center.
“Everything is going to be going at the same time,” said Vice President of Administrative Services Larry Serot. “We are going to be doing bits and pieces of everything over the next couple of years.”
Phase 1 will allocate $36 million dollars from the bond measure, of that amount: $5.5 million will be used towards the science center, which is to be completed in 2003-2004; $1.5 million will go to renovate the Vaquero gym, which will open as soon as construction is complete and will include the fitness center, which will open in November; $9 million will go towards the expansion and renovation of the Adult Community Training Center; $5 million will go towards campus technology upgrades; $10 million will go towards improvement of campus parking; $3 million will go towards the renovation of the athletic field; $1.5 million will go towards college infrastructure which will refurbish sewer and electrical lines and other utilities, and will fund construction of disabled student parking spaces on the south end of the auditorium; $500,000 will go towards planning and programming. Planning and programming will develop phase two of the construction process on campus, which includes construction planning of the student services center building and phase two of the ACTC renovation.
“We want to hire the consultants and the architects and have them start working on that [student services building and ACTC renovations],” Serot said.
The college is in negotiations with the owners of the Adventist Health building across the street from ACTC on Chevy Chase Drive, according to Serot. Negotiations to buy the building have just begun; however, Serot foresees a deal by the end of the year.
“We know that the hospital [Glendale Adventist] was interested,” said Serot. “But I can’t tell if you if it’s a go or no go.” Serot adds that an expansion of ACTC into this building will be under the condition that Adventist Health also use the building.
Funds will also be allocated to update information technology on campus, including systems that are used in administrative computers for admissions and records, counseling, and scheduling of classes, and “basically everything that the administration uses a computer for,” said Serot. As how the system stands right now, Serot says that it is an array of systems that are “sort of patched together.”
“The infrastructure upgrade project will benefit the entire campus, not just administrative users,” said Director of Network Planning and Operations David Mathews.
A new administrative system will link all of the administrative computers into one network. The decision on what system will be used should be made by the end of the fall semester.
According to Serot, the college is looking into three possible solutions to the parking situation on campus, which include the construction of permanent parking structures in the campus’ upper parking lot and in the city-owned parking lot across the street from the campus adjacent to the footbridge. The college is also looking into the possibility of purchasing the apartment houses to the north of the campus.
The college has abandoned building a parking structure underneath the athletic field. The purpose of building such a structure was to bring the athletic field to the same level as the rest of the campus. In doing so, the athletic would be filled with dirt, which would be supported by retaining walls. However, it was realized that aligning the level of the field to the rest of the campus could also have been done with a parking structure underneath the field.
“They’re doing that in other places,” said Serot. According to Serot, the construction process, which would have taken at least one year, would not have had much of an effect on the campus in terms of parking.
“You would build in such a place where you wouldn’t disrupt the campus and wouldn’t disrupt the existing parking,” Serot said. The project suffered setbacks when it became apparent that undertaking such a project would be too expensive.
GCC’s athletic field will be renovated, however, to allow competitive sports to be played there. According to Serot, renovation of the athletic field will begin in the next few years.
Phase two will allocate $40 million from the Measure G bond for the second phase of the ACTC remodel and purchase of additional property for parking, and will be allocated for the construction of a student services building. Building the student services building will allow all student services to move into a central location. The student center will be constructed behind the campus police offices and cafeteria, with a bridge to the upper parking lot.
Phase three will allocate $22 million for the construction of a gym and shower rooms.