$100 million building program starts in July
June 1, 2006
After 14 years of planning, the college will begin construction of a $29.3 million Performing Arts Center Theater next month on land just east of the Jeffrey Road entrance.
The 33,080-square-foot complex will include a 425-seat theater, laboratory space, faculty office space, and food service facilities. Plans includes an orchestra pit and theater lift, a gallery, dressing rooms, costumes and scene shop, and seating for 350 on the main level and for 50 in the balcony. The theater will be fully accessible to persons with disabilities and will have an elevator from the orchestra pit to the balcony
The $27.5 million project, which is slated to be finished in 2007, was funded through $16 million in state building bonds and $11.5 million in district funds. It marks the beginning of a five-year construction plan that will change the face of the campus, according to college president Glenn Roquemore.
“We are compelled by the marketplace to build an expanded matrix of comprehensive college curricula to meet the needs of our students and our community,” he said.
The Performing Arts Center Theater replaces the college’s 60-seat Forum Theater and will add much needed lab and instructional space. The Forum Theater will be remodeled initially to accommodate new classrooms for the piano program. Later, it will house a new humanities and languages complex.
The new theatre complex is part of the Educational and Facilities Master Plan, which was initiated by the college to meet a growing demand for educational programs and services in Irvine. With about 40 acres of its 100-acre campus still undeveloped, the college has room to grow.
With funding from the state, the college will spend over $100 million over the next seven years to upgrade the campus and build four major new facilities: the Performing Arts Center Theater, the Business and Technology Innovation Center, the Life Sciences Building, and the Fine Arts Building.
Other improvements will include new parking lots, a new entrance from Barranca Parkway, removal of portable buildings and the renovation of existing buildings and classrooms.
With enrollments expected to climb to 20,000 students by 2012, the college has had to set its building plan according to anticipated enrollments and current needs. Currently, 13,500 students attend.
Later this year, construction is expected to begin on the Business and Technology Innovation Center, a $19.3 million facility that is designed to meet an increasing need for curricula in the Business and Computer Sciences. The 35,000-square-foot building will be built adjacent the B-Quad on the east side of campus. It will open in 2007.
In 2010, the$13.6 million Life Sciences Building will be completed. And, in 2011, the $23.3 million Fine Arts Building is expected to open its doors.
Much of the new construction will take place in fields which are now farmed for strawberries and beans. The fields were converted to row crops two years ago after orange groves, which were years past their productive lives, were removed. The college anticipates minimal disruption to the campus during construction.