The Clackamas print., October 19, 2016, Page 3, Image 3

College gets a makeover
BY JAMES MARLEY
As students wait for construction to be completed on
the Harmony Cam pus and at Randall Hall, m any will
be surprised to hear that there is m uch more to come.
In November of 2014» a $90 million bond was approved
to update and im prove the facilitie s at C lack am as
Com m unity College. The bond was developed after a
large comm unity outreach, asking the comm unity what
they needed out o f the college.
The bond money is for the completion of these projects:
the current project at the H arm ony Cam pus to replace the
form er OIT building, current construction at Randall H all,
b u ild in g a brand new Industrial T ech n ical C en ter on the
Oregon C ity Cam p u s, an addition to the Dejardin science
b u ild in g, replacem ent o f the current C o m m un ity Center
a lo n g w ith o th er b u ild in g repairs and m in o r upgrades.
T h e co llege h as fiv e years to co m p lete th e projects.
T h e la rg e im p r o v e m e n ts w ill lik e ly c a u se m in o r
tra ffic issu es and o th er in co n ve n ien ces, but stu d en ts
are loo k in g forward to im provem ents like the one goin g
on at th e H arm o n y C a m p u s.
“ The old building was prim itive,” said Andrew Nelson,
a stu d e n t ta k in g c la s s e s a t th e H a r m o n y C a m p u s .
“ H o p e fu lly it can a cc o m m o d a te m ore th in g s th a n it
used to be able t o .”
O f th e u p co m in g pro jects, th e ITC project w ill lik ely
h ave th e b iggest e ffe ct o n current stu d en ts.
C o n stru ctio n o f th e new b u ild in g , w h ich is scheduled
to b egin in M arch o f 2017, w ill elim in a te th e cu rren t
te n n is courts and w ill inclu de a co m p lete rem odel o f
th e w h ole parkin g lot b eh in d Barlow H a ll.
The ITC bu ild in g w ill b en efit electro n ics, au tom o tive,
m anufacturing, welding, skilled trade and apprenticeship
program s w ith several added labs an d classro om s.
“ O n e o f th e cool th in g s about th is project is th is is
our renew able en ergy cla ssro o m , so w e ’ ll h ave so lar
panels on t h is ,” said Bob C o ch ran , th e D ean o f Cam p u s
Sen d ees. “ T h e state requires all state projects to invest
1.5 p e rcen t o f th e co n stru ctio n co sts in to renew able
en ergy, so w e ’ re u sin g solar on t h is .”
A c co rd in g to C o c h r a n , th e sta te allow ed th e so lar
panels that would have been used on the upcom ing
p ro je cts o f th e C o m m u n ity C e n te r an d
D e ja r d in to b e p la c e d o n th e IT C
fa cility in stead . T here w ill also be
so lar p a n e ls a t ground leve l fo r
students to see and learn about.
A n o th e r b ig p ro ject in th e
p la n n in g is th e D e ja r d in
add ition .
“ D e ja r d in p h a s e tw o is
an exp an sio n o f th e current
D e ja r d in b u i ld in g ,” s a id
Cochran. “ Our hope from this
exp an sio n is to turn D ejardin
into our science facility, having
90 to 95 percen t o f our science
classes in th a t one fa c ility .”
S c ie n c e in s tr u c to r s are e x c ite d
about th e co m in g ch an ges.
“ T h e h o p e is th a t th e D e ja rd in ad d itio n
w ill n ot o n ly give our stu den ts m ore m odern facilities
to w ork in , b u t also increase th e n u m b e r o f se ctio n s
th at we w ill be able to o ffe r, so th at the availability o f
classes w ill be b etter for stu d e n ts,” said Eden Francis,
th e S c ie n ce D e p a rtm e n t ch airp erso n and ch e m istry
instructo r at C C C .
Cochran added that the Pauli ng facility, which was bu il t
in th e 1980s, h as “ o utlived its u sefu l life fo r teach in g
s c ie n ce ,” and th at h e h opes th at D ejardin can turn into
a “ cu ttin g edge scien ce fa c ility .”
“ W e’re not sure what will happen with Pauling, ” Francis
said . “ I f th e add ition on D ejardin can accom m od ate all
th e space we need for th e current dem and plus a
little grow th, th en m aybe all the labs w ill
be m oved th e r e .”
T h e a d d itio n o f t h is f a c ilit y ,
w h ich is still in the program m ing
an d p la n n in g p h a s e , w ill add
sta te o f th e art sc ie n c e lab s
fo r c h e m i s t r y , b i o l o g y ,
m icrob io lo gy and a n a to m y .
In clu d e d w ith th is p ro je ct
w ill b e a n ew p a r k in g lo t
rep lacin g th e current one by
R oger Rook an d D e ja rd in , a
new pedestrian path from the
O regon C ity H ig h School and a
brand new transit cen ter.
“ W e p lan to im p ro ve th e p a th
c o n n e c t in g to O r e g o n C it y H ig h
S ch o o l to m ak e it safer for s tu d e n ts ,”
said Lori H a ll, th e Public In fo rm atio n O fficer
at C C C . “ T h en w e w ill create up to 12 bus sp aces for
m ass tr a n s it.”
A ccord in g to H a ll, th e tran sit cen ter w ill be not only
used for stu d en ts to get to and fro m sch o o l, but also
for co m m u n ity m em bers to get access to b u sin esses in
th e nearby area.
In add ition to th e tran sit cen ter, there are plan s to
extend M eyers Road fro m its intersection at H ighw ay
213 and co n n ect it to th e h ig h sch o o l.
“ A s a requirem ent o f our grow th, the city w ants to do
th a t,” said Cochran. "A n d a third entrance to our college
w ill com e o ff o f M eyers R o ad .”
A lso included in th e plan n ed fu tu re upgrades for the
scho o l is a new b u ild in g th at w ould replace th e current
C o m m un ity C enter. It w ill be built betw een Streeter and
w here th e C o m m u n ity C e n ter is now .
“ W h e n we get th e fu n d in g fo r it, th e b u ild in g w ill
be m oved o u t, m ak in g th e quad bigger and m ake it a
better en tran ce w ith the new tran sit ce n te r,” said H all.
“ In th e C o m m u n ity C e n ter, we would house everyth ing
in clu d in g registratio n , and have a ll th e services to get
stu d en ts all th e h elp th ey w ould n eed. ”
O th er sm a ll p rojects inclu ded in th e bond are: ro of
repairs, w hich has already been done on a few buildings;
storm w ater rep lacem en ts, w hich is expected to happen
d u ring sp rin g break; and elevator upgrades, w h ich was
p ostp on ed u n til su m m er o f 2017.
For m ore in fo rm atio n about th e bond m easure and
the project, ch eck out Clack am as C o m m u n ity C o lle g e ’ s
w ebsite.
“ The hope
is that the DeJardin
addition w ill not only give
our students more modern
facilities to work in, but also
increase the number o f sections
that we w ill be able to
o ffe r..”
-E d e n Francis
photo illustration submitted by Clackamas Community College
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