Bond will help with renovations

Christine Carrillo and Deirdre Newman

Voters overwhelmingly agreed to lend the Coast Community College

District a hand with renovations by passing the $370-million bond

with 65% of the vote on Nov. 5.

The bond will fund facility improvements over 20 years at all

three schools -- Orange Coast, Golden West and Coastline.

OCC will receive the largest portion of the bond -- $200 million.

The rest of the district will receive $8.6 million for other

improvements, such as replacing temporary district buildings with

permanent structures.

“We’re grateful that the voters in our Coast Community College

District felt that the colleges were deserving of the support to redo

and renovate the infrastructure of the three institutions,” said

Kenneth Yglesias, president of Golden West College, which received

about $96 million. “Obviously, an institution like this could use a

lot more, but we’re grateful to receive anything we can.”

Coastline, the third college in the district, will get about $66.2

million.

While the renovations on each of the campuses may be extensive and

are due to begin very soon, their completion lies years ahead.

“What this will do is basically renovate the infrastructure,”

Yglesias said. “In a 122-acre institution, it’s a big job. I think

within the next four to six months there will be some projects that

will start.”

Having been given the chance to begin the renovation process,

community college officials are excited about what the new

renovations will mean for their schools.

“I thought, doggone it, I was just glad I was here at OCC during

the time it passed because it will have such an incredible impact on

the future of the place,” said Gene Farrell, interim president of

OCC. “I would have hated to miss it.”

Orange Coast College also scored in the election with the passage

of Proposition 47, the state public facilities bond act, which got

59% of the vote. Proposition 47 bonds will fund the vast majority of

the school’s new library, Ferrell said. Money from the college

district’s bond will fund the rest.

“This is a fantastic recognition of both the need and the future

possibilities for educational infrastructure in Orange County,”

district board President Walt Howald said.

“This is really a terrific investment by all of us to make sure

that our children, grandchildren and people who want to change jobs

and all kinds of things will now have the physical opportunities,” he

said.