Major changes in store for OCC

Jeff Benson

The four-story Norman E. Watson Library doesn’t exist on the campus

map anymore and soon will cease to exist. Well, most of it.

Construction crews will begin demolition work Jan. 17 on the

41-year-old landmark brick building, according to OCC vice president

of administrative services Rich Pagel.

The bricks will be removed in March, and the ground floor and

columns will provide a base for a new building, he said.

Watson Hall, a $16-million, 80,000-square-foot, modern glass

structure proposed for the same spot is expected to serve as home to

the campus’ student services by fall 2006.

Admissions and Records will be on the ground floor, testing and

counseling on the second and third floors and financial aid on the

fourth floor.

“The core of the campus is what we’re really replacing,” OCC

President Gene Farrell said. “The core was built in the early ‘50s,

so some of the buildings have really outlived their usefulness.”

The library building was deemed seismically unsafe in 2000. Since

then, the staff has operated in temporary buildings, he said.

The proposed Watson Hall building will be funded through district

bond Measure C, which provides $370 million to the Coast Community

College District.

OCC, oldest of the district’s three schools, received $199 million

of that amount and plans to use the money to overhaul its campus over

the next 12 years, Farrell said. Watson Library’s deconstruction is

the first step.

The next phase will take place in April, when crews will begin two

years of construction on a $20 million Learning Resource Center, or

library, using Proposition 55 state funds, Pagel said.

“Watson and the Learning Resource Center are kind of the kickoff

for the next construction phase,” he said. “The college has not had

money because of state cutbacks, but we’ve been able to keep the

school going on a real tight budget.

“Because the community has come forth, we’ll really be able to

make these dilapidated buildings state-of-the-art.”

Construction of a new $2.5-million art gallery, cafe and pavilion

will commence late in the spring and should take 10 months, Pagel said.

OCC also plans to build a Student Union building next to Watson

Hall in about four years.

Coast Community College District officials will also relocate the

District Transportation Center, a hub for buses, vans and service

vehicles, Feb. 1 from its current location across the street. Its new

location will be at an OCC building next to the Adams Avenue parking

lot and next to the Community Gardens, Farrell said.