Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Trustees to Vote on $66M Contract to Build West Fresno College Campus
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 5 years ago on
August 31, 2020

Share

The long-awaited college campus project for southwest Fresno will take a big step forward on Tuesday when State Center Community College District trustees consider awarding a $66 million construction contract to Harris Construction Company, Inc. of Fresno.

Critics of project-labor agreements have contended that such agreements can drive up the cost of projects, but that apparently is not the case for the West Fresno Campus, which was forecast in March to cost $66 million when the trustees approved it.

Harris’ bid was the lowest of four submitted under the project-labor agreement format in which the contractor agrees to use union laborers for most jobs. State Center’s agreement also gives hiring priority for construction trades jobs to State Center-trained apprentices and graduates and for subcontracting jobs to businesses owned by State Center graduates.

Critics of project-labor agreements have contended that such agreements can drive up the cost of projects, but that apparently is not the case for the West Fresno Campus, which was forecast in March to cost $66 million when the trustees approved it. Earlier this year Fresno Unified School District’s project-labor agreement to build the Juan Felipe Herrera Elementary School came in under the district’s construction estimate.

Phase 1 of the West Fresno Campus project totals $86.5 million, of which $66 million is the portion covered by the project-labor agreement.

‘Exciting Milestone’

Portrait of State Center CCD Trustee Annalisa Perea
Trustee Annalisa Perea

Board vice president Annalisa Perea, whose Area 5 seat includes a portion of southwest Fresno, on Monday called the construction contract award “a really exciting milestone.”

The new campus represents a much-needed investment in the west Fresno community, which Perea said has long been neglected.

The low bid was the budgeted amount, and the project-labor agreement will mean jobs for State Center students and graduates, “which helps us to achieve our mission of putting students first,” she said.

Perea said she hopes that the campus will help attract other development to the area, helping its economy to grow “without the gentrification that comes with increased investments.”

Trustee Eric Payne

Trustee Eric Payne, whose Area 2 encompasses most of west and southwest Fresno, was born and raised in the area, swam in Edison High School’s pool during hot summer months as a teen, and tried to avoid the dreaded “U neighborhood gang.” The gang’s hangout is now the site of Gaston Middle School, across the street from where the new college campus will be built.

The West Fresno Campus “will be a new beacon of hope for a community that has been saturated in poverty and gun violence,” Payne said. Residents will have easy access to books, professors, and classes that will provide “endless opportunities that await them just around the corner.”

Bond Measures, State Dollars

Funding for the project comes from the district’s Measures A and C and also the state’s Strategic Growth Council, which allocated $70 million to the city of Fresno for a Transformative Climate Community grant. The city is funneling $16.5 million of the grant to the West Fresno campus project to help the campus become “a community hub of activity and education.”

The West Fresno Campus will include the automotive technology and automotive collision programs from the Fresno City College and Career and Technology Center campuses and the Fresno City medical assistant program. The campus also will offer general education courses, including associate degrees for transfer to four-year institutions.

The campus, to be built at the southwest corner of Church and Walnut avenues, will open for business with a two-story, 32,000-square-foot classroom building containing a science lab, library, administrative spaces, two large group areas, and a one-story, 75,000-square-foot automotive technology facility with 64 auto bays, six classrooms, and a large yard.

The construction contract also includes underground utilities, parking, landscaping, and a “walk-under water feature.”

Classes Could Start Spring 2023

District spokeswoman Lucy Ruiz said classes at the West Fresno Campus would be open to students from all over the district. Initial enrollment is projected at 2,000 to 2,500 students, she said.

The project is scheduled for completion by summer 2022, with the first classes slated for spring 2023, barring any delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ruiz said.

The State Center trustees meeting, which is being held by videoconference because of coronavirus restrictions, starts at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

DON'T MISS

Stock Market: Dow Drops Nearly 650 Points Anticipating Trump’s Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Trump Hits ‘Pause’ on US Aid to Ukraine After Oval Dustup, Pressuring Zelenskyy on Russia Talks

DON'T MISS

Clovis Businessman Admits to Committing $800K Bank Theft

DON'T MISS

Fresno Sikh Temple Wants a 75-Foot Flagpole. City Says No.

DON'T MISS

Clovis Schools Nab Titles in State High School Wrestling Championships

DON'T MISS

March Starts Out Wet. Is More Rain on the Way to Fresno?

DON'T MISS

Trump Announces Chipmaker TSMC to Spend $100B to Expand Chip Manufacturing in US

DON'T MISS

Residents Voice Opposition to Merced County Solar and Battery Project

DON'T MISS

Democrats Invite Fired Federal Workers to Trump’s Congressional Address

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Fire Leads to Death and Injury. Deputies Suspect Foul Play.

UP NEXT

Joseph Wambaugh, Author With a Cop’s-Eye View, Is Dead at 88

UP NEXT

Californians Split on Trump, Newsom, and the State’s Future

UP NEXT

Plug-In Stove Could Be a Game Changer for Health and Climate

UP NEXT

Lawsuit Claims FUSD’s African American Academic Support Program Discriminates

UP NEXT

ACE Union Files New Labor Charges Against Clovis Unified over ASL Interpreters

UP NEXT

Fresno Judge Tentatively Sides With Harris Construction in School Build Lawsuit

UP NEXT

Michelle Trachtenberg, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Harriet the Spy’ Star, Dies at at 39

UP NEXT

Washington Post Opinion Editor Exits as Bezos Steers Pages in New Direction

UP NEXT

Trump Wants to Sell ‘Gold Cards’ to Wealthy Immigrants for $5M

UP NEXT

Trump’s Deportation Rates Lower Than Biden’s, but Expected to Rise

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

Fresno Sikh Temple Wants a 75-Foot Flagpole. City Says No.

10 hours ago

Clovis Schools Nab Titles in State High School Wrestling Championships

11 hours ago

March Starts Out Wet. Is More Rain on the Way to Fresno?

11 hours ago

Trump Announces Chipmaker TSMC to Spend $100B to Expand Chip Manufacturing in US

11 hours ago

Residents Voice Opposition to Merced County Solar and Battery Project

12 hours ago

Democrats Invite Fired Federal Workers to Trump’s Congressional Address

13 hours ago

Fresno County Fire Leads to Death and Injury. Deputies Suspect Foul Play.

13 hours ago

Trump Says 25% Tariffs on Mexican and Canadian Imports Will Start Tuesday

13 hours ago

Troubled Fresno State Basketball Team Loses 11th Straight Game

14 hours ago

Rep. Costa Says DOGE Is Making ‘Hasty,’ Uninformed Decisions

14 hours ago

Stock Market: Dow Drops Nearly 650 Points Anticipating Trump’s Tariffs

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks tumbled Monday and wiped out even more of their gains since President Donald Trump ’s election in November, after he ...

9 hours ago

9 hours ago

Stock Market: Dow Drops Nearly 650 Points Anticipating Trump’s Tariffs

President Donald Trump, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov)
9 hours ago

Trump Hits ‘Pause’ on US Aid to Ukraine After Oval Dustup, Pressuring Zelenskyy on Russia Talks

9 hours ago

Clovis Businessman Admits to Committing $800K Bank Theft

10 hours ago

Fresno Sikh Temple Wants a 75-Foot Flagpole. City Says No.

11 hours ago

Clovis Schools Nab Titles in State High School Wrestling Championships

11 hours ago

March Starts Out Wet. Is More Rain on the Way to Fresno?

President Donald Trump walks before talking with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (AP/Ben Curtis)
11 hours ago

Trump Announces Chipmaker TSMC to Spend $100B to Expand Chip Manufacturing in US

Merced County Planning Commission
12 hours ago

Residents Voice Opposition to Merced County Solar and Battery Project

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

Search

Send this to a friend