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LAKEPORT, Calif. – On an afternoon blessed by an abundance of late spring sunshine, community members got a chance to walk the the 31-acre property on Parallel Drive that will be home to the Mendocino College Lake Center.
The site, located at 2565 Parallel Drive, now looks like an unused pasture, with the grass having recently been mowed.
However, college officials are hoping to break ground on the new campus site this September, once Division of the State Architect approves the building plans.
Ruzicka Associates, located next door to the property, hosted a Tuesday afternoon reception for local dignitaries and college staff and leadership, who took a closeup look at the site in its still-pristine form.
“This is really an exciting project going on here,” said Channing Cornell, president of the Mendocino College Foundation Board of Directors.
The total project cost is $13.5 million, with construction estimated to cost around $8 million, according to Mendocino College Facilities Services Director Mike Adams.
The first phase of building will include 14,000 square feet of space, Adams said.
Adams said there will be classrooms for topics including art, science and music, a community room and a computer lab. A preliminary site plan showed a large parking area set back off of Parallel Drive, which leads into an entry plaza, central plaza, art patio, garden area and a nature trail loop. Future plans include a large community garden just off of Parallel Drive.
He said that once the project is awarded to a contractor, he expects it to move quickly. “It will be a fast track project.”
Mark Rawitsch, dean of the Lake Center as well as the college center in Willits, said the goal is to open the campus to students in 2013. To help make it happen, “We need a group finger cross,” he joked.
At the afternoon gathering officials also announced the formation of the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College, an affiliate of the Mendocino College Foundation. The group's purpose is to organize and conduct local activities to promote and assist the college's educational and service programs, according to member Wilda Shock.
Shock said Lake County students account for 25 percent of Mendocino College's total enrollment, with almost 23 percent of the 2010 graduates coming from lake County.
She said the 2006 passage of the Measure W bond made funding for the new Lake Center project possible.
Shock added that the foundation's board of directors has committed itself to long-term growth, establishing and funding a new executive director position, which Katie Wojcieszak was hired to fill.
Wojcieszak awarded Shock with a plaque for helping with the foundation's efforts.
Rawitsch said local enrollments totaled 1,821 in the spring semester, up 9 percent. The fall enrollment was 1,600. He said the county enrollment resulted in $1.4 million in state reimbursements.
Adams said the architectural firm TLCD Architecture of Santa Rosa is designing the site. He said the firm also agreed to do the design work for Lakeport's Soper-Reese Community Theatre courtyard for free.
He thanked the city of Lakeport for helping move the project forward.
“I don't think we can thank the city of Lakeport enough for their cooperation,” Adams said.
He said the city has been “amazing” in its assistance in helping secure the property – which a bank repossessed – and splitting the cost of a water main extension. Adams singled out Community Development Director/Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll for special recognition.
There are four wells on the site, all of which are active but with low water volume, Adams said.
He said there is no solar installation in the initial plan. Adams said for it to pencil out the installation would need to be larger, and therefore the college is talking with the city about power needs for its sewer treatment plant.
Adams had noted the site's beauty before the tour started. Walking the acreage and pausing in the area where the main quad will be, the property's picturesque qualities shined through, with prominent views of Mt. Konocti and the mountains to the west.
College officials said they want the campus design to incorporate the landscape to create a beautiful and peaceful setting for education.
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