This content was published: July 8, 2011. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
July Board Report Gives Bond Program Update
Photos and story by Gina Whitehill-Baziuk
Bond Program Update:
Summer is a busy time for the Bond Program as student enrollment is less during Summer term allowing us to work on renovation projects throughout the district. It is also the Bond Program’s time to work with the design teams to map out work for the upcoming academic year. It is important that when Fall term begins we have a communication/meeting plan in place for each of the campuses so we can achieve full participation from the faculty and students. Planning/programming meetings will continue through Summer term with those areas that work through the summer, such as Student Services and Administrative Services.
The Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Steering Committee met in June to review guiding principles, assess existing conditions and learn from other college TDM programs.? This was an intensive effort by the committee to secure a solid foundation from which new TDM strategies will be crafted. Come July, the Committee will begin the process of refining and enhancing PCC’s TDM program as it continues to work toward ?recommendations for Cabinet and Board consideration by year’s end.
VoIP phone deployment has started at Sylvania.?? We’ve installed about one-third of the phones during June.? Installation is on target for completion by September.? The Rock Creek VoIP roll-out is scheduled to begin in October.? We are working with the design teams on both campuses to identify the cooling and electrical requirements for the telecom rooms to accommodate VoIP.?? Emergency generator metering was completed at Sylvania.? It appears that there is room on the generators for air-conditioning units, and in some cases for the UPS at Sylvania.? At Rock Creek, we are planning for electrical metering and generator capacity analysis.
We will be conducting focus group discussions with law enforcement, fire service, and emergency management professionals in mid-August to gain their thinking on critical elements of a regional public service training center.
Campus Updates:
The roof is covered with the cap sheet, which is being installed this week.? Interior improvements are underway, with all walls framed and sheet rock nearly complete.? Some initial painting is underway at the vaulted ceilings and utility areas.? The remaining interior finishes, such as casework, ceiling fans and mill work have begun and will continue through June and July. The south parking lot and northern end of Werth Boulevard has been paved.? The exterior sidewalks along Brutscher Street have been poured and placed.? Landscaping has begun with irrigation installation.? Once that is complete, the plantings will begin and continue through August. Project is currently scheduled to complete mid-August 2011.
The Bond design team including Opsis Architecture and Bainbridge Design put on a bond campus display of the work done to date.? The Display included the approved development option “C” as approved by the Bond Internal Steering Committee (BISC).
We also had boards showing the adjacency (what activities are next to each other) studies for the campus core. New to the Bond campus displays was a large size model of a portion of Building 7 on the east side and the massing on the building circulation spine.? The model from last year was brought back to set the context for the decisions made so far by the Rock Creek Campus.? Over 160 people provided their input on Thursday June 2, 2011 and Friday June 3, 2011 prior to finals.
This summer we will be working with the Rock Creek design team to move the Building 7-east addition to its design fruition by early fall.
We are very excited about the upcoming projects for next summer 2012.? We will start the Building 7-east addition.? The project is a good pilot to test sustainable ideas in construction, procurement and commissioning.? The District team along with Campus team is working on priorities for the building.
The campus, bond team, and design team are continuing to work on the schematic design concepts for the Learning Commons and Student Commons’ new buildings as well as the renovation of the German American Society building to bring all projects into budget and make sure the needs of the users are being met.
In additional, we will incorporate features recommended by the leading planners and community development visionaries at the July 2010 planning conference hosted by PCC President Pulliams. Key among the advice provided was to locate both college and business retail venues on campus edges.
An open house/information session was held in the Southeast Center’s Great Hall prior to the end of Spring term. This was open to all students, staff, faculty and visitors to understand where the planning process was before many take their summer break.
Programming has continued with the German American Society building and who will occupy the facility once it is renovated. The Campus Administration, including Campus President, Dean of Instruction/Dean of Students, and Division Dean of Workforce and administrative support will occupy a portion of the building. The rest of the building will house Community Education Program.
The conditional use application will be submitted once we work through the Learning Commons and Student Commons’ changes and the extent of the GAS renovation work to be completed. Anticipated time frame for completion of this planning work and submittal of the conditional use application is August.
By late May the number of design options for the Cascade Campus was narrowed from 12 to six as the Executive Committee, Strategic Work Group (internal recommending body), Cascade’s Student Council, and Bond Advisory Committee (citizen advisory committee) all agreed to eliminate certain options.? The Bond Design Team then conducted a technical workshop to evaluate the six options for fatal flaws or other feasibility issues, which reduced the options to four.?? These four were then taken back to the Executive Committee, Strategic Work Group and Bond Advisory Committee for final review before costing.? The outcomes from these three groups were very similar. The four options will be reviewed by the PCC Board at their July 14 meeting.
One common theme is to locate a parking garage on the Public Safety Education Building (PSEB) parking lot.? This location supports a stronger campus identity as well as providing a potential amenity for use in training for the Fire Academy.? The New Academic Building is favored in a location that will support south facing childcare, as is a central location for the Student center.? Once the final options are selected, THA will begin a thorough assessment for additional review in the Fall.
The Health Technology, (HT) Communications Technology (CT) and Science Technology (ST) framework plans have been completed and Howard S. Wright Construction is working to establish pricing for each.? GBD Architects and the Bond team are continuing to meet with the various groups inside the College Center (CC) to create a framework plan that can be budgeted much the same way at the Social Science, Automotive Metals, HT, CT and ST Buildings.
E6 projects currently underway include the installation of the retaining wall around the new dehumidification units at the HT building.? The next E6 project scheduled to begin in July is the modification of the HHW (Heating Hot Water) loop, which will make the current system more efficient and reduce energy costs to the College.
Click here to view or download July 2011 PCC Board Report