STORY BY MONICA BADOLIAN, STAFF WRITER
PHOTO COURTESY OF CYPRESS COLLEGE
The Fine Arts Building at Cypress College is currently under new renovations, the design phase for the plan began in Nov. 2020 and lasted through Nov. 2021.
The Agency Approval lasted from Dec. 2021 to Aug. 2022. The Bid Phase began in Spring of 2023 and construction is estimated to begin in Spring of 2024. The renovation of the building is estimated to be completed in Fall of 2026.
According to the Cypress College website, “The project involves a full renovation of the existing 1969, 3-story (+mezzanine), 66,765 square foot Fine Arts building. The project is a partially state funded project, and will allow the following fine arts programs to be housed within the building: Art (Painting, Drawing, Sculpture, Ceramics, 3D Art, and Jewelry making); Photography; Music; Media and Communications; Recital Hall; Galleries; and associated support spaces.”
The Fine Arts Building is part of Active Projects plan phase two that includes the Fine Arts building renovation, Fine Arts Swing Space (old SEM), HRC temporary relocation, IT network refresh, and campus-wide security system upgrades, all estimated to cost 52.9 million dollars.
The scope of work will include interior renovations to improve teaching, learning, and collaboration spaces, as well as upgrades to existing infrastructure. The main focus on the project will be to improve the quality of the learning environment for students and faculty.
Capital Projects Manager, Allison Coburn, discussed the estimated cost of the building plan. “If you’re looking at the hard cost, we anticipate that to be between 38 to 42 million but then we also have total project cost, and there’s other costs we have to pay above that,” said Coburn. “The total project budget we are recording, that includes architects, engineers, and all other things, is at 64.4 million.”
The Cypress College website doesn’t have the correct information about the estimated cost for the Fine Arts renovations. “That is old, a bit dated,” said Coburn. “We’ll make sure we get all of that up to date.” On the Cypress College website, it currently states that the estimated cost of it is 52.9 million dollars for the full renovation.
According to Coburn, there was no state bond for a long time, which had to force many schools to wait at least ten years before starting a project. “There’s a state bond, where we received for, it’s 20.8 million,” she said. “We received money from the state to help with this renovation so over 20 million of it is coming from the state and we’re putting in the rest. It’s called an FPP, or a Final Project Proposal, and that is what was approved. So as soon as we got approved, we moved forward with the project.”
Coburn mentions that the building is old and needs to be renovated. With all the new amenities Cypress College will be offering in the Fine Arts building, it is sure to bring life and be a more lively place on campus.
