Gianni DiCrosta/ Roundup
The 2010 Master Plan Update was presented at the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees meeting today.
The presentation included input and opinions from IFC International, Sasaki Associates Inc. and members of the Pierce faculty and community on Pierce College’s future and current construction projects.
Principal Architect John A. Coons of Sasaki Associates Inc. presented the entire construction plan and the highlights of its creation and evolution since the original Master Plan in 2002.
“Given the changes in the last decade; environmental changes, social changes and economic change, we had to turn an eye to updating the [Master] Plan for the twenty first century,” Coons said. “Sustainability became the overarching mantle that was the basis for any of our decisions.”
Coons went on to recall a discussion he had with a Pierce student who told him that he believed the campus looked like “a middle school with ash trays.”
This memory led Coons to one of his other main goals for formulating the ever-changing Master Plan.
“We wanted to make Pierce a destination, not a place to pass through,” he said. “Albeit, [Pierce is] a commuter campus, but it is moving very aggressively into the twenty first century.”
Joy McCaslin, interim president at Pierce, assured the audience at the meeting that construction progress was moving along at the right pace.
“Our faculty and staff are working diligently on these last few projects,” McCaslin said.
Members of the community were ready to voice their concerns, however. Chris Rowe, a member of the West Hills Neighborhood Council cited redirection of traffic through and around Pierce as her biggest concern.
“I’m not opposed to the [Master] Plan in general, just some aspects to it,” Rowe said.
The LACCD will vote on approval of the 2010 Master Plan Update August 4.
More information can be found at http://faculty.piercecollege.edu/pcc/
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