Dallas County Community College District

Growing in all directions┬áIn May of 2004, Dallas County voters backed a $450 million bond issue to support the growth and expansion of the Dallas County Community College District. Greg Andrews explains how the district is managing that work and reaching out to the design and construction industry to forge lasting partnerships. The Dallas County Community College District was formed in 1965 and today serves a sprawling metropolitan area of some 2.4 million people and 860 square miles.  The largest community college district in the largest state in the lower 48, Dallas County is delivering educational services to approximately 10 percent of the countyÔÇÖs population each year. For the next several decades, the most important date in the history of the DCCCD may well be May 15, 2004. It was on that day that voters overwhelmingly approved a $450 million bond issue for the district, one that cleared the way for a decade of improvements on its various campuses. DCCCD said the funds would enable it to expand capacity and update classrooms and laboratories to meet studentsÔÇÖ needs; address safety and accessibility issues at older facilities in the system; and ensure that the district was ready to meet the specific educational and training needs of its fast-growing and changing population. By the time the bond program is wrapped up, the district will have five new community centersÔÇömeant to help serve populations that have typically not accessed the existing college campusesÔÇöand numerous construction projects under its belt at each of its seven colleges. As part of the bond program, the district has made a commitment to strive to include minority- and women-owned businesses in the competitive bidding process as often as possible, and it hopes to help boost the local economy by working with local contractors and vendors. The district has made extensive use of its Web site as an information repository for the contract processes related to the bond program. In all, 32 projects were listed in the bond program, spread across the seven individually accredited collegesÔÇöBrookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake and Richland. The work includes new and renovated science and classroom buildings, student services centers, industrial and automotive technology buildings, theater and arts facilities, and athletic fields and support buildings. The district has focused from the start on its philosophy of ÔÇ£Shared Success,ÔÇØ seeking to get everyone focused on common goals and seeking to enlist the cooperation of architects, builders and other vendors on projects to help stretch the public money as far as possible. Many of the projects were expected to wrap up during the 2009 calendar year, making the early part of the year the peak for construction of the bond, which will nonetheless continue to be spent for another two years. ÔÇó Among the projects across the system being completed under the bond are: ÔÇó The Brookhaven Workforce & Continuing Education Building on the Brookhaven campus, a $6.3 million project to construct a new 27,700-square-foot facility for the teaching of corporate and continuing education programs, as well as general classrooms and support space. The campus hopes to have the building in use by faculty and students by the spring semester of 2010. ÔÇó A new Industrial Technology building on the Cedar Valley College campus. One of the largest projects in the bond program, with a construction budget of just under $10.5 million, the 63,000-square-foot building will house the schoolÔÇÖs specialty programs in automotive and diesel technology with new classrooms, vehicle storage, labs, faculty and clerical offices, and other support spaces. The project also includes funds for new central plant and information technology infrastructure for the entire Cedar Valley campus. The facility was due to be ready for use by the fall of 2009. ÔÇó El Centro College is being outfitted with a new West Campus under the bond program, an $8 million project that will include a 34,600-square-foot building designed to host programs such as adult basic education, developmental studies, limited credit classes, continuing and workforce education, and community development. The price tag includes the acquisition of additional property for the campus to accommodate the building and related parking. ÔÇó The Eastfield Parent Child Study Center, a $6.1 million project that will house the Child Development and Teacher Preparation departments on the Eastfield campus. The building will combine college-level teaching facilities with an educational facility designed for toddler and school-age children, with classrooms, playgrounds, observation rooms and support facilities. Eastfield hopes to hold classes in the facility by the fall of 2009. ÔÇó The Mountain View Performing Arts Center, a $3.7 million project that was downsized during the design phase from a new construction project to a remodeling of existing space.┬á ÔÇó A new North Campus for North Lake College, where a project worth just under $8 million will create a new 37,000-square-foot facility to house academic classrooms and offices as well as a student center with a new bookstore, quiet and group study spaces and student services offices. ÔÇó The Richland College Workforce Developent Center, where continuing education and workforce development classes will be held in new teaching and computer lab spaces. The $7.1 million project will result in a new 32,000-square-foot facility. That project was due to be delivered to the college by the contractor in mid-2009. ÔÇó Adaptive reuse and remodeling of vacant space on the Richland College campus, where just over $3 million will be spent to remodel Sabine Hall into new classroom and other space. That project is one of the later ones in the bond program, with work in the design phase in early 2009, as the work required that a nearby science building be completed first. In each case, the projects were designed to fit with the local architectural aesthetic, and where possible, projects were designed and built to achieve LEED certification from the US Green Building Council for energy efficiency and environmentally conscious design. ÔÇô Editorial research by Dan Finn┬á