Even as the University of California and California State University grapple with construction shutdowns, the Los Angeles Community College District on Wednesday awarded $400 million in new building contracts, the latest phase in a $5.7-billion construction program that experts describe as one of the biggest college public works projects in the nation.
The program, financed by bond measures approved by voters, most recently in November, is replacing often decrepit classrooms, labs and infrastructure at all nine district campuses with modern facilities featuring such advances as nuclear MRI imaging machines and computerized patient simulators.
Some of the planned improvements are more basic.
"Pierce College [in Woodland Hills] had no air-conditioning," said Larry Eisenberg, the district's executive director for facilities planning and development. "Can you imagine sitting in a classroom in 110-degree weather?"
Many of the new facilities are designed to train students for green jobs, including solar energy manufacturing, hydrogen fuel cell installation and nanotechnology, Eisenberg said.
As an added fillip, the buildings are being built to national sustainability and green standards; some, with green roofs and specially designed windows that create electricity, are expected to be zero-energy users, he said.
"It is in the top 5, if not the largest current higher education expansion project," said Cliff Brewis, senior director of editorial operations at McGraw Hill Construction, which forecasts construction trends. "They're at the front of the curve both in exploring new technologies and in challenging the industry . . . to achieve high levels of quality."
The district estimated that the contracts will provide more than 6,000 jobs.
Jack Keyser, chief economist for the nonprofit Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said the community colleges also play a key role in educating the Southern California workforce.
"A lot of them have struggled; they just don't get any respect," he said. "But they're educating the people who keep the economy going," he said, pointing to construction, computer technician and auto repair businesses as examples.
Students at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College said the building boom was particularly welcome as community colleges are often overlooked in the shadow of the four-year university systems.
