Gavilan College students will say hello to a shiny new science
wing this fall and goodbye to the aging portables that used to
house the college’s science program.
Gavilan College students will say hello to a shiny new science wing this fall and goodbye to the aging portables that used to house the college’s science program.
Thanks to Measure E – a $108 million facilities improvement bond voters passed in 2004 – students are no longer at the mercy of a World War II surplus boiler that occasionally provided heat in the winters and many students won’t have to suffer through summer classes in sweltering classrooms. Slowly but surely, the buildings on Gavilan’s campus are shedding their red and black paint for more earthy colors that will coincide with the landscape, Gavilan spokeswoman Jan Bernstein-Chargin pointed out as she walked around campus.
The current project under construction is the science wing, which is being refurbished with a modern design and sleek equipment. This summer, contractors are putting the finishing touches on the science buildings and the occupational education building, which will house the Police Academy. Classrooms with stained ceilings, outdated furniture and decades-old building material made with asbestos were gutted and upgraded with air conditioning systems, new laboratory tables and modern lighting.
Slated to open this fall, the science and occupational education buildings cost about $8 million to renovate, according to the college’s proposal. Next on the list of projects comes the humanities and arts buildings and the music hall, followed by the cosmetology, business and security buildings. Gavilan is counting on the state to provide matching funds for its next three big projects – the gym, library and student center. The college is also hoping for, but has not yet secured, a matching grant from the state for the theater, Bernstein-Chargin said.
Many of Measure E’s improvements are out of sight and hidden underground – old pipes and failing wiring have been replaced and students taking night classes now enjoy well-lit pathways along the campus’s main artery, Sycamore Lane.
Bernstein-Chargin gestured toward the archaic light fixtures that are being phased out and replaced with brighter lights.
“It used to be very dark around campus at night,” she said.
“For those of you who have visited the Gilroy Campus and especially those who have attended night classes, safety was a concern,” wrote Pi Silverstein, the chair of the project’s Citizen’s Oversight Committee. “It is much safer now and nighttime attendance is up.”
