Construction plans at Fullerton College include new instructional buildings and parking structure.
A new three-story instructional facility is set for construction beginning January 2020 and is expected to go on until Summer 2021. The construction site will be located between the 1200 and 1400 buildings at the current staff parking lot.
The new facility will serve as the main building for the humanities division. It will also accommodate the majority of humanities classes that currently are scattered in every single building on campus, according to vice president of administrations service Rodrigo Garcia. He oversees different areas such as finance, budget, and the major construction that is happening on the FC campus.
The district’s master plan shows the construction and renovation projects that are needed for FC. As part of the Fullerton College Measure J funded projects, the approval of a $574 million bond was made in 2014 for facility improvements, upgrades, and repairs at Fullerton College, Cypress College and the School of Continuing Education. The instructional building will be the first project to implement the funds.
The major feature of the construction is a four-story building that will contain great accommodations for students. The plan has a center courtyard within the building for students to gather around before their classes, a lactation room, a large conference room, faculty offices and 50 additional new classrooms established for humanities and other similar classes.
The facility will also be beneficial for the humanities division because the current humanities facility only uses the second floor of the 500 building. The new facility building will expand the humanities study and give them a place of their own.
Next on the list, will be the renovation of the 300 and 500 buildings which house the business and humanities divisions. Recently state funds of $15 million was received for the renovations. The money will be used for modernizing both buildings which are historic structures that were built in the 1930s. The estimated completion of both buildings is the end of 2022.
“With better layout, better classroom space, new technologies…it will be great for both students and professors,” Garcia said.
After the building renovations, a new four-story parking structure will be built. The new structure is expected to accommodate 840 spaces for students and staff. The construction is estimated to start in the Winter of 2023 and completed by the Summer of 2024. The parking structure is expected to help resolve current issues with student parking. Currently Fullerton College has leased the parking lots at Walgreens, which has an estimated 140 spaces.
Fullerton College is expected to see more expansion for years to come. Future construction will include a new Theatre Arts building along with moving the counseling office to a new welcome center.
Damion Lloyd • Sep 27, 2019 at 5:28 pm
Where is the Veterans Center at FJC that was promised on the Measure J literature?
Also, you forgot to mention there are already 210 spaces where the ‘new’ parking structure will be built. Therefore, there is actually only a net gain of 630 spaces there for a total cost of almost $30 Million. That makes each new parking space cost $47,000.
With declining student population and the proliferation of online classes, does it make sense to spend $30 Mil on a parking structure that cannot ever be used for anything else?