Aaron Sheldon / Roundup
The last steel beam of the new Student Services Building was signed by involved project members at a “topping off” ceremony yesterday, commemorating the beginning of a new phase toward the year-away completion of the $18 million building.
The beam, signed by members of the Pierce College faculty, AKG Construction and Swinerton Inc., was also supposed to have been risen to the highest point of the building; however, it was not lifted because there were too many people around, according to Isabella Golovaty, senior project manager from Swinerton Inc., the company overseeing construction at Pierce.
The new building, located off the Winnetka entrance, will comprise student services that were otherwise scattered around the campus, which Joy McCaslin, vice president of student services, said “is really detrimental to our students…because it prevents them from easily accessing all the services.”
Services to be moved will include Admissions and Records, Assessment, CalWorks, the Career and Transfer Centers, Counseling, Disabled Student Services, Extended Opportunity Program and Services, Financial Aid, Health Services, High School Relations, International Students and Matriculation.
“The building is also going to become the symbol that is Pierce College. It’s going to be our front door,” Pierce President Robert Garber said. “It’s the first thing people will see when they come onto the campus.”
Andrea Cohen Gehring, the chief architect on the project, said the mission-style feel of the buildings at Pierce, along with the college’s landscaping, create a romantic and relaxing feel.
“(We) seek to take that romance and represent it in a…three-story building,” she said of the new Student Services Building.
Garber pointed out the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification level of the new building was “silver”, which means it scored 33-38 of 69 points on a construction checklist including such categories as water efficiency, energy and atmosphere and materials and resources.
Though future plans for the current service buildings are not solid, McCaslin said “different groups are working on plans for who will go into those areas”, and that some of the buildings will be refurbished.
The Student Services Building project and numerous others around campus are being funded by the Proposition A/AA Construction Bond granted by the Los Angeles Community College District, providing more than $280 million to Pierce.
“For generations to come, this building will be the beginning of a student’s life at Pierce,” LACCD board member Mona Field said. “It will be the place that they get the help they need to move forward in their professional and personal goals.”
Pierce President Robert Garber signs the final steel beam to be lifted to the highest point of the new Student Services Center, July 10. The building, estimated for completion by Fall 2009, will house many student services that are currently scattered across the campus. (Gil Riego Jr. / Roundup)