Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
How Is State Center First Spending $485 Million Bond? Look to Madera.
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 5 years ago on
January 10, 2020

Share

The opening of the new Center for Agriculture and Technology building at Madera Community College Center marks the completion of State Center Community College District’s first Measure C-funded facility.


Listen to this article:


The $6.35 million center also is a boon to students who will save gas money and putting extra miles on their vehicles, said Johna Sanders of Madera, a mother of two who will wrap up her associate degree in plant science in the spring semester and head to Fresno State.
“I think it means more opportunities for ag students. … The (plant science) classes I would have had to attend Reedley for, I would be able to do right here,” Sanders told GV Wire on Thursday after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Madera Community College Center President Angel Reyna, surrounded by State Center Community College District officials, wields the scissors at the ribbon-cutting for the new Center for Agriculture and Technology on Thursday. (GV Wire/Nancy Price)

Plenty of Room in New Center

Deyvi Leyva isn’t sure whether he’ll have classes in the new 10,000-square-foot center when the spring semester starts Monday. The building is expected to open for classes by the end of January.
“I haven’t registered yet,” the 18-year-old Madera student said with a grin.
Leyva, who is studying to be a mechanic, was sitting with other students in the back row of a large industrial shop in the new building where State Center Community College District students, staff, elected officials, and members of the public gathered to celebrate the opening.
He said he’s looking forward to taking classes in a space that will give students more elbow room.

More Measure C Facilities on The Way

Chancellor Paul Parnell noted that Madera is the first campus to reap major benefits from Measure C. Other projects from the $485 million bond measure for facilities that voters approved in June 2016 are in the works. Among them: a First Responders Campus at North and Willow avenues southeast of Fresno, the West Fresno Campus on South Walnut Avenue in southwest Fresno, and a new Science Building at Fresno City College.
The Madera ag and tech center will house general education classrooms, a plant science lab, faculty offices, and shops for agriculture mechanics, welding, and industrial maintenance. In addition, there will be spaces for counseling and tutoring.
It’s next door to the Center for Advanced Manufacturing in the northeast corner of the campus, which opened in the fall of 2009.

Madera President Angel Reyna

2020 Is a Big Year for Madera Campus

This will be a watershed year for the campus, President Angel Reyna said. The Madera Community College Center is in the process of obtaining full accreditation and becoming a community college in 2020, making it State Center’s fourth college. The college center has been under the supervision of Reedley College since its doors opened in 1989 at Madera High School to 158 students.

“We’re growing, and we’re putting individuals in what used to be closets because we’re continuing to expand and continuing to grow. So we’re very thankful of the vision that people had to make sure we were going to have a place to support our students.”Madera President Angel Reyna
The accreditation commission will decide within the next week on Madera’s accreditation application, Reyna said. “Maybe by the end of January or beginning of February, we’ll know where we stand,” he said.
In 1996, a 114-acre site on Avenue 12 southeast of the city of Madera was selected as the new home for the Madera college center. Today it serves more than 7,000 students.
And it’s not done growing, Reyna noted.

More Classrooms on Drawing Board

Plans are being drawn up for the Academic Village 2, a 35,000-square-foot facility on the southwest part of the campus. It will provide state-of-the-art facilities for the nursing and engineering programs, Reyna said.
It will also house general education classrooms, distance learning classrooms, a student success center, and an expanded library.
“We’re growing, and we’re putting individuals in what used to be closets because we’re continuing to expand and continuing to grow,” Reyna said. “So we’re very thankful of the vision that people had to make sure we were going to have a place to support our students.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Paul Atkins Sworn in as US SEC Chair

DON'T MISS

UnitedHealth Spent $1.7 Million on Executive Security in 2024, Filing Shows

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Obamacare’s Preventive Care Coverage Mandate

DON'T MISS

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

DON'T MISS

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

DON'T MISS

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

DON'T MISS

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

DON'T MISS

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

DON'T MISS

Fresno Woman, Tied to Fentanyl ‘M30 King,’ Sentenced to Federal Prison

DON'T MISS

Tesla Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claiming Sudden Acceleration in Ohio Crash

UP NEXT

UnitedHealth Spent $1.7 Million on Executive Security in 2024, Filing Shows

UP NEXT

US Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Obamacare’s Preventive Care Coverage Mandate

UP NEXT

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

UP NEXT

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

UP NEXT

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

UP NEXT

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

UP NEXT

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

UP NEXT

Fresno Woman, Tied to Fentanyl ‘M30 King,’ Sentenced to Federal Prison

UP NEXT

Tesla Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claiming Sudden Acceleration in Ohio Crash

UP NEXT

Trump Is Dismantling the Education Dept. How That Might Harm Special Ed

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

11 hours ago

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

11 hours ago

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

11 hours ago

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

11 hours ago

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

11 hours ago

Fresno Woman, Tied to Fentanyl ‘M30 King,’ Sentenced to Federal Prison

12 hours ago

Tesla Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claiming Sudden Acceleration in Ohio Crash

12 hours ago

Trump Is Dismantling the Education Dept. How That Might Harm Special Ed

12 hours ago

Special Interests Pour More Than Half a Billion Into CA Lobbying

13 hours ago

Texas Walmart Shooter Who Killed 23 Avoids Death Penalty by Pleading Guilty

13 hours ago

Paul Atkins Sworn in as US SEC Chair

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Paul Atkins, who previously served as a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission member from 2002 to 2008 and wa...

9 hours ago

CEO of Patomak Global Partners Paul Atkins takes part in a strategic and policy CEO discussion with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Eisenhower Execution Office Building in Washington, U.S., April 11, 2017. (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo)
9 hours ago

Paul Atkins Sworn in as US SEC Chair

The corporate logo of the UnitedHealth Group appears on the side of one of their office buildings in Santa Ana, California, U.S., April 13, 2020. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
10 hours ago

UnitedHealth Spent $1.7 Million on Executive Security in 2024, Filing Shows

11 hours ago

US Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Obamacare’s Preventive Care Coverage Mandate

Pilar Rose, 51, formerly of Fresno, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and obstructing an IRS audit, agreeing to forfeit her mansion and BMW after falsifying financial records to evade taxes and secure fraudulent loans. (Zillow)
11 hours ago

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

Nathaniel Ray Diaz, 21, of Greenfield, is a California state prisoner who has been indicted on federal charges on Monday, April 21, 2025, for allegedly directing a minor to send sexually explicit images while serving time for previous offenses against the same child. (Shutterstock)
11 hours ago

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a news conference about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest autism survey in Washington, April 16, 2025. In his first attempt to significantly change the nation’s food supply, Kennedy will direct food manufacturers to phase out eight petroleum-based food dyes that are found in hundreds of thousands of grocery-store staples, the department said on Monday, April 21. (Pete Kiehart/The New York Times)
11 hours ago

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

11 hours ago

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

President Donald Trump attends the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 21, 2025. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
11 hours ago

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend