$37 Million for San Bernardino Valley Colleges
The San Bernardino Community College District secured $37 million in state funding to build a new workforce training center at San Bernardino Valley College and a performing arts education center at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa. Governor Newsom and the legislature included these campus infrastructure projects in the state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. SBCCD will match the state dollars from Measure CC money voters approved locally in 2018.
“These two campus projects will directly serve Inland families by expanding career advancement opportunities and a better quality of life,” said Dr. Anne L. Viricel, chair of the SBCCD Board of Trustees. “We are grateful to our state policymakers who made our students and community colleges a state budget priority.”
Chancellor-Designate Diana Z. Rodriguez said the state investments are welcome and an essential boost for the region’s future. “Whether through hands-on career training or inspiring creative thinking, we envision building our community colleges into vibrant places of learning and intellectual stimulation for our local students, families, faculty, and staff,” she said.
The construction projects will strengthen the local economy, said Interim Chancellor Jose F. Torres. “We are laser-focused on hiring local contractors, including minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses,” he said. “From architects, engineers, and electricians to plumbers and landscapers, our goal is to generate economic opportunities for Inland Empire businesses and jobs for our community.”
Information on bid opportunities is available at www.sbccd.edu/MeasureCC.
Workforce Training Hub Coming in 2024
Construction starts in late 2021 on San Bernardino Valley College’s 114,000 square foot building outfitted for modern workforce training. The new building will be accessible, sustainable, and filled with the tools needed for training students in water management, automotive repair, heavy truck technology, machining, electrical heating, and air conditioning, among other fields.
The new two-story complex will provide students with indoor and outdoor lab space for hands-on training, replacing one of the campus’s oldest and most maintenance-intensive facilities.
It will be a sustainable building that provides a place to learn about green technology in a space that looks like a modern working environment. The new building is expected to open in early 2024.
Arts Education & Performance Venue Coming in 2024
State funding will enable Crafton Hills College to replace the outdated Finkelstein Performing Arts Center, which was constructed 43 years ago at the center of the campus.
The new arts education and performance venue, expected to open in 2024, will provide students with up-to-date learning environments to explore their creativity and hone their professional skills.
California’s entertainment, art and design industry generates about $200 billion in labor income.
The new facility will support interdisciplinary learning of the increasingly merging fields of theatre arts and music with a 270-seat main theatre, black box theatre, costume shop, theater scene shop, music recital rooms, recording studio, and classrooms.
Construction will start in 2022 and will meet the district’s goals for zero net energy buildings.