Vanguard begins seven-year expansion

Christine Carrillo

Vanguard University took its first swing at a seven-year master plan

on Tuesday, breaking ground at the first of eight sites where new

buildings will be completed by 2010.

The new building, the Heath Academic Center, is expected to house

the university’s religious and business studies, and will include 10

classrooms, 38 faculty and department offices and an institute room

on the 35,000-square-foot lot. The center was named after its lead

donors, Elmer and Grace Heath, who made a $1-million donation in

honor of their son and daughter-in-law. Paul and Barbara Heath are

both graduates of the Costa Mesa school.

Two of the classrooms will be auditorium style and seat 104

students each, while the remaining eight will be much smaller. All

have network capabilities for the students. The three-story building,

including the underground basement for storage, is expected to be

completed in January, in time for the spring semester.

“We have a vision which builds up the campus and ... this is the

first academic building in our master plan,” said Murray Dempster,

president of Vanguard. “Having the capacity to give students access

to education is [a goal] throughout the state, not just simply at

Vanguard.”

The new building, in the works for the past three years, will

follow a Mediterranean-Spanish motif, similar to the structural style

predominant among the eclectic buildings on campus. Future

development will follow a similar motif.

As the first major redevelopment conducted at the university’s

Costa Mesa campus since it moved from Los Angeles in 1950, university officials have taken preemptive steps toward expanding the campus to

house the influx of students they expect to see within that

seven-year span.

“We sorely need it,” said Jerry Clarke, director of planning and

construction for the university. “We’re so out of space. We’re just

very anxious to get it on board. From an impact standpoint, this is

the largest thing we’ve done.”

Anticipating a jump of about 1,000 students, the university plans

to expand as much as possible without losing the campus’ small,

intimate feel.

The university’s master plan consists of 15 buildings, eight of

which will be built and seven of which will be renovated. To have all

construction completed by 2010, the university will need to build one

new building each year -- a difficult task since construction of new

facilities is based on private donations, Clarke said.

The university plans to begin construction on the second academic

building, the Townsend Academic Center for Science and Technology,

within three years. Right now, university officials are focusing on

the project at hand and pleased to see their plan in action.

“It was a moment of great joy because it meant that all of the

hard work that was done by the development office, the generosity of

our donors, was finally going to make a difference,” Dempster said.

“It was a delightful moment of joy.”

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at christine.carrillo@latimes.com.