Brina Barrientos
El Rancho Drive, also known as the Farm Road, will soon be undergoing construction as part of the continuing campus renovations.
Bidding for the construction took place March 6.
A construction company will be chosen to replace the previous company that had protested against plans. After choosing a new constructor, the Pierce College Council will approve and sign the contract.
The plan is divided in two separate projects. The first part is called the “early release infrastructure.”
This will begin on Brahma Drive, which is the Winnetka Avenue entrance. The road will be re-paved and restructured.
A new building will be built next to the College Services Building. It will be have larger conference rooms, student services and some of administration will be moving to this new location.
The second part of the project, called “roadways construction,” will begin in early September on El Rancho Drive.
The farm area will receive a larger amount of electrical power and the road will go be re-paved, which will help prevent flooding.
The De Soto Avenue gate will be moved farther into campus. This will allow a bigger turn-around area for cars.
Although this construction will take place during school operation times, it will be done as quickly as possible according to Paul Nieman, director of college facilities.
Class schedules will be closely examined to minimize the affect of construction on students and faculty. Animals and their caretakers will have access at all times and will not be affected.
Olympic Drive, which is located by the Mason Street entrance, will be stretched across the agricultural area to the west and will lead to a new parking lot.
The stop sign on Mason Avenue will be removed at the left turn into the Victory parking lot. It is the same turn that is closed the first couple of weeks of school.
Announcements and flyers are scheduled to be placed around school to remind students of construction and to give everyone time to plan ahead for any inconvenience that this may cause.
“It affects me a little bit. I use it three times a week to get to De Soto Avenue,” said student Crystal Rezai.
Other students such as Laura Smith believe the remodeling will be very helpful.
She said the classrooms on the farm are very dim due to the low power and the building can use some repainting.
Elizabeth White, a teacher for 25 years at the Agricultural Science Center said she is “very excited” about the remodeling.
She said the farm is her “home away from home” and it is amazing to expand.
They will be providing new dog kennels and adding new larger facilities.
Although there will be some land taken away for a new parking lot, she is willing to “exchange.”
The school was built in 1947 and is due for a change to meet today’s society demands, said White.
Although White is looking forward to the remodeling, “Some teachers are upset. They feel that the animal area is shrinking. “They are afraid that that the farm is getting taken away gradually,” Smith said.
Within the next few months there will be some changes to the streetlights at Mason Street and Victory Boulevard.
With the help from the Department of Transportation (DOT), there will be a traffic relief.
There will also be a right-turn only sign located on the Victory Boulevard exit, which is located next to the soccer field. The red emergency lane will also be made longer, providing a better view of coming traffic.
“The bottom line goal is…to have a place where people want to go,” said Nieman, who is in charge of handling all minor and major alterations and improvements.
The plant facilities department receives the biggest budget of $6 million out of all departments, according to Nieman.
The DeSoto Avenue entrance, often referred to as the ‘farm road’ is among several entrances scheduled for improvements. Currently, the road is often closed to traffic exiting or entering the DeSoto gate due to flooding in several large potholes, including the largest, above, which has not yet dried from rain nearly two weeks ago. The plan includes changes to Brahma Drive, expanded electrical power to the farm and a new parking lot on what is currently agricultural land. ()