With all the ongoing construction throughout Cosumnes River College, visual enhancements are becoming apparent.
“I’m very excited about the construction around the campus,” said CRC President Debbie Travis.
“It indicates to me that we’re going to be able to serve our students and the community by having facilities that are wonderful state-of-the-art learning environments,” Travis said.
As part of the Facilities Master Plan, Regional Transit approached to CRC with an opportunity to extend it’s line. In preparation for the light rail, a five-floor parking garage with 2,000 secured parking spaces in April 2013.
It will be available to the public, but parking prices for students will not change.
Christina Alvarado, Student Senate President, commented on the new construction.
“It’s a great idea because with CRC’s population growing, CRC have the expansion to be able to give students what they need,” Alvarado said.
By September 2015, the Regional Transit’s light rail service will be running to give South Sacramento and Elk Grove access.
Despite the campus being occupied with construction, the Northeast Technology Building was usable in time for the fall semester.
The technical building added three additional classes, natural lighting windows above the classrooms and tool rooms.
In conjunction, larger labs for construction and welding were built on campus over the summer.
Next to the Learning Resource Center, the Winn Center for Construction and Architecture is under construction.
Wathen describes the new building to be a modernized LEED Platinum certified building and energy efficient two story 24,000 square feet architecture facility that will provide rooms for photography, architecture, pharmacy and architectural design technology students.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification provides independent verification that buildings are designed and built to meet standards in human and environmental health, according to United States Green Building Council. Platinum is the highest rating.
“I’m excited,” says photography professor Jim West.
“The ability to go to the new facility when the Winn Center is accessible, we will be able to give the students current job skills training so they can go out and get work. Change is progress, we are looking at a amazing facility that’s going to benefit students years to come.”
National Student Design Competition winner for the California region and former CRC student Nathan Dea, along with his teammates was able to combine their ideas from the competition with the architect to make the final project for the building.
The Center, a $16.6 million project, will include eight lecture rooms, 13 classrooms, a community room for large group meetings and 37 offices, to accommodate a capacity of approximately 795 students. The project will be completed late July 2013.
“I think the other thing I’m excited about is the fact we’re able to do construction because the citizens of the community passed bond measures by their votes so we would have funds that could only go for construction and that means, in my opinion, that the taxpayers are supporting higher education,” Travis said.