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| DID YOU KNOW? |
Through partnerships with local agencies and job placement programs, the LACCD has created 315 new construction jobs at its nine colleges to date.
Source: PVJobs
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| EVENT NEWS |
Saturday, September 8, 2007
LA Harbor College
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
for the newly Renovated Football/Soccer Stadium
Event: 4:45 p.m.
Game: 5 p.m.
Click here for more information and for the event flier
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Friday, September 14, 2007
Pierce College's Botanical Garden Dedication Event
For more information on this event, please contact Coby King at cking@mww.com or 213-486-6560.
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Friday, November 30, 2007
Seventh Annual LACCD Sustainability Conference
Location and time: TBD
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$150 Billion in Construction Contracts Offered to Attendees at the Second Annual California Construction Expo |
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Expo attracts hundreds of Construction Industry Professionals Seeking Business and Job Opportunities
Hundreds of construction industry professionals from contractors to  designers flocked to Downtown Los Angeles on August 16 to take advantage of $150 billion in upcoming contracts presented at the Second Annual California Construction Expo. The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) together hosted the event at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
L.A. City Councilmember Jan Perry, along with representatives from LACCD, LAUSD and the MWD kicked off the event with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
“The California Construction Expo is important because it provides the LACCD with a venue to introduce ourselves and bring in new people to be part of our building team," said Dr. Marshall Drummond, Chancellor for the LACCD. “The event permits us to engage the whole construction industry in one of the most effective, successful building projects in the nation.“
Workshops held throughout the day included: tips on working with public agencies; Building Information Modeling (BIM); and sustainable design and construction. Larry Eisenberg, executive director of Facilities and Planning Development for the LACCD served as a featured panelist on sustainable design and building.
The exhibit hall offered attendees more than a hundred booths featuring vendors, industry associations and the latest innovative products. The event closed with a contractor matchmaking session which provided attendees with networking opportunities.
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| The Student Voice: Student Body Leader at Los Angeles Valley College Shares Excitement Over College's Modernization Program |
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The Student Voice is a feature that provides a student perspective on the Proposition A/AA program.
Mari Kiridjian knows what it means to be a leader. The English major at Los  Angeles Valley College is president of the Associated Student Union, representing the interests of more than 11,000 students on campus.
"The campus has seen a great transformation since construction began, but has still remained student-friendly," said Mari. "The atmosphere hasn't changed, even though the landscape has changed in a positive way."
Mari is passionate about educating her fellow students on the many opportunities to get involved outside the classroom. She also encourages them to learn about the modernization taking place thanks to the Proposition A/AA Bond Program.
One change Mari's particularly excited about is the newly furnished outdoor courtyards. With new tables and comfortable seating, the courtyards provide additional areas for students to study, read, and relax between classes.
Another is the new ergonomic desks, chairs, and tables in the Foreign Language Department's classrooms. With the new furniture the students have taken more pride in their classrooms.
Since she started at Valley College last fall, Mari has seen construction start on the new Allied Health and Science Center and the opening of the new Maintenance and Operations / Sherriff's Station building. Next to come are the Theater Arts and Motion Pictures Building, the Arts and Music Building, and new modernization projects.
"I'm seeing more students get involved on campus because they see how the changes taking place are benefiting them," said Mari.
"Even though so much is changing here, it still feels like we are all part of a big family working together," Mari said.
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| East Los Angeles College First To Generate Its Own Electricity with New $9 Million Solar Energy Project |
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Massive renewable energy project marks the beginning of the Los Angeles Community College District's efforts to move 'off the grid' and become energy independent.
East Los Angeles College (ELAC) reached another milestone recently as college officials announced the commencement of construction activity for its renewable energy project, a Photo Voltaic (PV) "farm" that will produce one megawatt of electricity. The $9 million project is programmed to harvest nearly enough energy to meet the college's daytime electricity needs.
The ambitious renewable energy project at ELAC is a milestone for the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) as it moves toward taking all nine of its colleges off the grid. The LACCD is the first community college system in the nation with plans to become entirely energy independent. Construction for the PV farm began on August 17, with completion expected by year-end.
“This renewable energy project is another example that illustrates our District's strong commitment to move expeditiously toward building climate neutral campuses that will positively impact the environment,” said Dr. Marshall Drummond, chancellor of the LACCD. "Not only will our energy independent campuses save money for other educational resources, but they will also act as a living model to teach students how to lead sustainable, environmentally responsible lives."
Currently, East Los Angeles College uses on average slightly more than one megawatt daily to meet its energy needs. Future plans to make ELAC entirely energy independent include using excess electrical energy to convert water into oxygen and hydrogen, and using the hydrogen to power fuel cells for evening electricity needs. The other eight Los Angeles Community Colleges will soon follow with similar projects.
The PV farm at ELAC will be located on the South end of the Northwest Parking lot on campus. The project will be "Design-Built" by Chevron Energy Solutions under a 20-year Power Solar Service Agreement with the LACCD.
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| Los Angeles Trade-Technical College Opens New Parking Structure for Start of Fall Semester |
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The college continues to forge ahead with many construction and design projects to modernize the decades-old campus.
The Olive Street Parking Structure at Los Angeles Trade-Tech College, which  began construction in April 2006, opened on August 25. The new structure is providing more than 800 parking spaces for students, staff and faculty. The driveway entrance is on Olive Street, with the Grand Avenue crosswalk allowing access between the parking facility and the main campus.
Construction on the $77 million South Campus projects continues to move forward, and upon completion will provide two new five-story buildings that will dramatically reshape and improve the landscape of the campus. These two buildings include a 56,302 sq. ft. Student Services building and 66,228 sq. ft. Technology Classroom building. Both will contain "SMART" classrooms–rooms outfitted with IT and audio-visual infrastructure for teaching capabilities. A 1,800 sq. ft. Masonry Utility Building is also included as part of the new construction project.
Construction is also underway on the installation of the Auto Shop Lifts in Building "F," which will benefit the College's Auto Collision and Refinishing Department in its student classroom auto shop on campus.
For more information on current and upcoming modernization projects at LATTC, visit www.LACCDBuildsGreen.org.
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Los Angeles Harbor College's Football Team Scores Big |
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Seahawks to Celebrate their First Home Game of the Season on their Newly Renovated Field
For more than two years, the Seahawk football team practiced and played their football games at facilities located at San Pedro High School while their college's own stadium was being renovated using Prop A/AA bond monies. The wait is now over! On September 8, a ceremonial ribbon cutting at 4:45 p.m. will kick off the first home game of the season pinning the Seahawks against the Vikings from Long Beach City College.
The new facilities include a new eight-lane synthetic Mondo track and an artificial turf field for both football and soccer. The new grandstand seats 1,500 guests and includes a concession stand, press box, bathroom facilities and new stadium field lights. The stadium's state-of-the-art scoreboard was generously donated by the college's Associated Student Organization (ASO).
The game will be held on the campus located at 1111 Figueroa Place in Wilmington. Everyone is invited to come down and root for the home team!
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| We're Doing Great! |
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A message from Larry H. Eisenberg, executive director of Facilities Planning and Development
 Every now and then, I like to review some of the basic facts of the Proposition A/AA Program. Spending $2.2 billion is a massive undertaking, and because these are college campuses with long histories, the upgrades, renovations, and improvements have needed to be done carefully with good planning. Now that we’re into the heart of our construction program, we’re starting to see the promised benefits come true.
And as you know, the monies that the voters approved with Propositions A and AA are providing desperately needed renovations and new construction for all nine colleges of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). We’ve used approximately $725 million of the original Bond Program funds. With that funding, we have been able to complete 166 projects at our nine colleges. We currently have an additional 236 construction projects in development. These projects include renovations, new academic buildings, and improved athletic and arts facilities, and will be paid for with the approximately $1.5 billion we have left to spend.
Every building program has faced the problem of hyperinflation in the construction industry, which has more than doubled in costs in recent years. No one, in either the private or public sectors, predicted cost increases this dramatic, and we’ve had to make tough choices to build the right projects given our funds weren’t going to go as far as we had hoped. We continue to work with faculty, students, staff, and citizen bond oversight committees at all of our colleges to help find new, innovative ways to get the most bang for our buck at each campus.
We are protecting these taxpayer monies, and doing so very effectively, according to annual audits conducted by outside firms for the Bond Program. These audits have consistently illustrated that we are properly managing our program. You can view the audit findings on our website by visiting www.LACCDBuildsGreen.org/about_laccd/laccd_financials.html.
We are also utilizing the latest techniques and strategies to maximize our dollars, including the “Design-Build” process to streamline construction projects, and bulk purchasing procurement for furniture.
Finally, we are holding to our strong commitment to spend locally and build green. This means we're dedicated to working with small, local and emerging businesses to impact the local economy. Our green building program is one of the best in the nation. We’ve completed one building certified as “green” by the U.S. Green Building Council, and have 16 others currently under construction. Our commitment means we're doing our part in the fight against global warming, while saving money by adopting more energy efficient measures.
Despite all the challenges facing construction programs these days, we’re delivering wonderful new facilities, and still remain true to the spirit of our master plans: transforming the nine LACCD colleges into state-of-the-art educational resources, enriching the local economy, and creating L.A. jobs for generations to come.
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| Photo of the Month: How Can We Help You? |
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LACCD Chancellor, Dr. Marshall Drummond, poses with the Build LACCD team members in the District’s booth at the CalCon Expo.
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