By KATHERINE J. WHITE
[email protected]
Sports Editor
The walls will be coming down at Bakersfield College.
The walls of BC’s Campus Center as well as BC’s SAM building will be coming down, that is. More succinctly, the Campus Center and SAM will be “modernized,” which entails walls being torn down.
The interior walls of these areas will be “gutted,” according to Randy Patterson, interim director of construction for the Kern Community College District. How much different looking these areas will be, is still in the process of being worked out, said Patterson.
“Beautifying the outside walls throughout the campus will be done,” Patterson said.
Nevertheless, the layout designs will be made with increased disability access in mind in accordance with statewide standards and the ADA, or Americans with Disabilities Act. This means that, in regard to the disabled, requirements connected to height and width must be heeded. For example, toilet paper dispensers must be placed at a certain height for greater accessibility to the disabled.
The SAM building project is known as “Capital Project,” according to Patterson, and it is scheduled for reproofing and for its interior walls to be torn down. The SAM classrooms will be raised to current standards, and the Indoor Theater will receive a new overhead projector.
According to Patterson, the Outdoor Theater is not on the current list for scheduled maintenance. The SAM modernizing project will cost a total of $11.4 to $12.1 million with a projected occupancy date of August 2011. The cost for the Campus Center modernization will be $3.5 to 1.7 million with a projected occupancy date of January 2009.
However, all of the major projects are subject to scrutiny and process of approval by both the DSA or Division of State Architects and KCCD Board of Trustees. The process of approval, according to Patterson, takes about three to four months. The structure plans are thoroughly examined to see if they measure up to ADA standards. The expected date for approval for the Campus Center designs is May 2008. The approximate date for approval of the SAM designs is June 2010.
BC’s Language Arts is an officially scheduled maintenance project and will receive a new roof and a new HVAC or heating, ventilation, air conditioning system at a cost of $620,000. Fine Arts got a new HVAC over this summer as well as what Patterson termed a “cool roof.” This environmentally friendly roof deflects sunlight of absorbing it. Patterson claims that with this roof, less energy is needed to cool the building.
“You could touch this roof with it being 130 degrees, and it would feel cool,” Patterson said. “We were up on the roof this summer, and we put our hands on this roof, and it was cool.”
The Fine Arts “cool roof” alone cost $210, 000. With the new HVAC, the total cost was $501,000. The Science and Engineering building received additional ventilation in its chemical storage room in the chemical lab at a cost of $20, 000, said Patterson. The Adaptive P.E. room and weight training room received a new HVAC at a cost of $120, 000.
SGA President John Lopez says there will be planning committee meetings between administration, faculty, SGA, and general student population regarding BC renovations. Lopez says that he wants to find out about students’ opinions regarding this matter.
“From what I understand, we’ll be having planning committees throughout the year,” Lopez said.