Cochise College clears way for student union

By Katie Evans
Herald/Review
Published/Last Modified on Thursday, Jul 31, 2008 - 05:40:57 am MST

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SIERRA VISTA — Demolition began on Building 100 at Cochise College this week to make room for a new student union.

“That will be where students go for admissions and administration, the bookstore,” said Denise Merkel, interim director for community outreach and public relations for the college. “There will be a space for University of Arizona South so we can do some sort of joint counseling.”

There also will be a kitchen connected to a community room, which will allow the college to have bigger events.

Construction of the new student union is part of phase two of the college’s Master Facilities Plan, which has not yet started.

Construction crews demolish the 100 Building at the Sierra Vista Campus of Cochise College Wednesday. (Beatrice Richardson-Herald/Review)

In phase one at the Sierra Vista campus, which the college is working on, is the new Career Technology Building and an addition to the Science Building of four new discipline-specific labs.

“The career tech building will have welding this fall and it will just have sort of a myriad of other things,” Merkel said. “Temporarily we’ll have, maybe for six months or a year, people using the career tech knowing they’re going to move into another place.”

According to a press release on the school’s Web site, www.cochise.edu, projects are on track for completion by the start of school on Aug. 18.

“Currently, workers are completing the interior work on the walls, ceiling and cabinetry for the Science Building addition and the Career Tech Building,” the college said in the Tuesday release. “Exterior painting of the science addition will begin next week.”

As part of the ongoing construction, services have been relocated, as outlined by Merkel:

• The 1000 Building, which houses Adult Education and the Nursing Department, is being relocated with plans for the building to be occupied in August. In the meantime, Adult Education is in Room 901. GED testing on Monday and Tuesday will take place in Room 305, as will registration for English Language Acquisition classes on Aug. 12 and 13.

• The Nursing Department can be found in the 800 Building or by calling the Douglas Campus at 417-4016.

• Tutoring services provided by the Math Lab and the Writing Lab, formerly located in P2, are located in Room 314 for the 2008-2009 school year.

• In addition, buildings P1, P2, P3, P4 have moved to the northeast side of campus. These buildings still house the offices of Tech Prep, Career Services, the Online Campus, the Center for Teacher Education, the Center for Economic Research and the Office of Institutional Research.

Students can still find admissions, registration, financial aid and advising/counseling in the 500 Building and P5. Plans for additional parking are under way.

For information about the construction projects at Sierra Vista campus, call Cochise College at 515-0500.

Herald/Review reporter Katie Evans can be reached at 515-4611 or by e-mail at katie.evans @svherald.com.

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Thomas wrote on Sep 17, 2008 7:20 AM:

" The college sought the bond for construction to address substandard facilities and accommodate growth. Their plan was to use financial reserves along with a secondary tax if the bond was approved. Since voters rejected the bond, the college modified construction plans to address only substandard facilities (not growth). Also, the new dorms on the Douglas Campus are being financed with pledged revenue bonds -- basically, the money is being borrowed and the revenue generated by the dorms is used as collatoral. These issues are made public at the college's monthly governing board meetings, which are open to the public. "

Facts wrote on Jul 31, 2008 8:00 PM:

" So the big spending project didn't get approved, they cut it back a bit and proceeded. And you are going to pay. "

JM wrote on Jul 31, 2008 1:04 PM:

" So did they have the $ last year but wanted us to pay anyways, or are they doing this without money hoping they can force us to pay for it when its done? "

azsteves wrote on Jul 31, 2008 8:06 AM:

" In the November election of 2007, there was a measure on the ballot asking the citizens of Cochise County to commit to some 150 million dollars of taxpayer dollars to be used by Cochise College for upgrades and improvements. This measure was roundly rejected by the voters. I suppose my question is, where is all of the money for all of these construction projects coming from? Lots of reporting about the construction, but nothing about the funding. What's up? "