 "Photo: Evan Hicks")
GRCC is preparing students and staff for a better learning environment by mapping out new facilities around the campus. According to John Ramsey, Director of Public Information, “people are beginning to question about the construction for Salish Hall.” Salish Hall will house humanities, business, fine arts, English and social sciences.
Work and planning for Salish Hall began in spring of 2009, when demolition of the science and technology complex began. Ramsey said, “Building the actual structure takes the least amount of time. What people don’t know is that doing all the dry walling and electrical wiring is by far the hardest part.” Ramsey also stated that Salish Hall will hopefully be finished no later than fall quarter of 2011.
While the construction for Salish Hall is underway, plans for new structures and remodels are also coming together. In 2011, a new IT building will be built in the P12 parking lot that is across from the administration building now. Once completed, the already existing IT shops will be torn down to make way for a new GRCC entrance and parking. During the construction of the new IT building, students and faculty from the science, mathematics and technology building (SMT) will be moved to the humanities, social Science, and business buildings (HSB). Remodeling of the SMT will begin as soon as possible.
One building that’s also in the works, but won’t be ready until middle of 2015, is a new Student Life Center (SLC), which will be where the HS, SS and BI buildings are currently located. This building will be a place where students can buy books, get some food or just a place to relax after classes. Now this is not for certain, but there may be a sky way that connects the SLC with the Lindbloom Student Center.
The money for these projects is from bonds provided by the Washington state legislature. There are 34 technical community colleges that the state board prioritizes as most in need of repair and gives them approval. In order to determine which schools are most deserving, state officials and architects are sent to the campus to run a survey of whether certain buildings are in need of repair or replacement. Ramsey said, “Green Rivers’ part in this is to decide on what the projects should be and give an estimated time line of how long these projects should take.”
Will there be a parking garage as a means for an alternative parking source? According to Ramsey there are not plans for a parking garage. The reason for this is because the state will not help pay for it, not only that, but the campus simply has no space for one. This would require students to pay additional fees with their tuition and by the time of completion the students that helped pay for this structure would more than likely be gone.
With all of these improvements coming along, students and staff can look forward to several more years of construction areas and the occasional semi squeezing into parking lots along with the rest of the masses.
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