Breaking ground
Flathead Valley Community College begins its $19.3-million campus expansion Friday with a ceremonial groundbreaking.
Scheduled for 12:30 p.m., the public celebration takes place regardless of weather in the north parking lot adjacent to the Business and Social Sciences Building.
"We are very glad to begin construction after a three-year delay," college President Jane Karas said.
She referred to legal battles that delayed the expansion by nearly three years and inflated the price beyond the $15.8 million approved in the December 2002 bond election.
"We're short about $3.5 million, so we're looking at loans and a capital campaign," Karas recently told the board of trustees.
Since the Montana Supreme Court rejected the final election lawsuit in January, college officials have worked with architects to trim costs while preserving educational space.
A decade of growth, plus new trends in postsecondary education, fueled the need for more space. The Occupational Trades Building reflects the national demand for shorter-term, job-centered education.
First up on the construction schedule, the trades building provides a 25,190-square-foot home for building/construction trades programs. These include carpentry, plumbing, electrical wiring, metal fabrication and manufacturing.
Karas said the Occupational Trades Building will open by fall 2006.
Along with five garage bays, the new facility includes a receiving/storage area, two classrooms, three faculty offices, a student resource area and a student conference room.
A fenced area outside the building will provide secure parking for the college's new fleet of heavy equipment as well as campus vehicles.
The first $297,000 contract for site work for the trades building was approved Monday by trustees. Settle Construction, a local excavating contractor, submitted the low bid. The next lowest bid was $369,000.
Steve Larsen, the college's representative for the project, said Settle's bid was in line with the architect/engineer's estimate for the work.
"We just opened the bid" Friday, Larsen said.
He said that the contractor has 10 days to secure the bonding and insurance required by the project. Along with site work, the contract covers road access and a parking lot.
The college plans to go to bid for a general contractor in December, Larsen said.
After the Occupational Trades Building, the college plans to build its Arts and Technology Building, with the building to open in spring 2007.
The 61,500-square-foot structure houses one large and two small meeting rooms and a 200-seat black-box theater. It also provides an instructional kitchen for the culinary arts program.
"It will be the first two-story building on campus," Karas said.
Built of concrete and glass with metal and wood siding, the arts building features teleconferencing capabilities and the latest technology for student and community use. Amenities include an art gallery, plaza and arts courtyard.
The last new building is slated to open in summer 2007. Called the Early Childhood Education and Care Center, it will serve as a learning lab for child-care students while providing as many as 50 children with day care.
Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.