Issue Date: 5/8/06
Changes continue at Escondido Center
By Matt Null
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Bean said the group will look at a few projects, including a possible renovation of the admissions counter, a library expansion and six new faculty offices.
She said that the admissions counter would be lowered to look more like the one at the San Marcos campus, and the library would expand into the adjacent Room 200, currently a business lab. The faculty offices, however, currently lack funding.
Possible replacements for the 5-Star Market include a student lounge area or cafeteria. However, Facilities Director Mike Ellis said a structural engineer who was hired to determine its best use, concluded that the building does not meet current code requirements for any use. The engineer said that to continue renting the space could have put the Palomar Community College District in a liability situation if anything happened.
The building is currently used for storage. Ellis said the taskforce will look at the cost of tearing down the building and replacing the 5-Star Market with a new building that could be used for a bookstore, food service operation or a student lounge, among other ideas.
Another project close to completion involves new science classrooms. Recently a "wet-lab" was installed in Room 402 and two classrooms are being retrofitted to become one larger classroom.
Sara Thompson, dean of mathematics and the natural and health sciences, said the new labs will greatly benefit students. In the past, students could only take biology. Once the classrooms are complete, students can take several other science classes such as oceanography and physics.
"They are going to benefit by the number of choices they are going to have, and I think that is real important," Thompson said. "For a student trying to meet their lecture-lab requirements, they really only had one choice."
She said that the admissions counter would be lowered to look more like the one at the San Marcos campus, and the library would expand into the adjacent Room 200, currently a business lab. The faculty offices, however, currently lack funding.
Possible replacements for the 5-Star Market include a student lounge area or cafeteria. However, Facilities Director Mike Ellis said a structural engineer who was hired to determine its best use, concluded that the building does not meet current code requirements for any use. The engineer said that to continue renting the space could have put the Palomar Community College District in a liability situation if anything happened.
The building is currently used for storage. Ellis said the taskforce will look at the cost of tearing down the building and replacing the 5-Star Market with a new building that could be used for a bookstore, food service operation or a student lounge, among other ideas.
Another project close to completion involves new science classrooms. Recently a "wet-lab" was installed in Room 402 and two classrooms are being retrofitted to become one larger classroom.
Sara Thompson, dean of mathematics and the natural and health sciences, said the new labs will greatly benefit students. In the past, students could only take biology. Once the classrooms are complete, students can take several other science classes such as oceanography and physics.
"They are going to benefit by the number of choices they are going to have, and I think that is real important," Thompson said. "For a student trying to meet their lecture-lab requirements, they really only had one choice."
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