Two new athletics facilities dedicated at OCC

COSTA MESA — Orange Coast College observed a banner day in its athletic history Thursday, as administrators opened a state-of-the-art fitness complex and rededicated the campus baseball field after a series of renovations.

At 1 p.m., Chancellor Ken Yglesias, OCC President Bob Dees and other administrators gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the two-story fitness complex, which was built with funds from the $370-million Measure C school bond. The 49,000-square-foot complex features a weight room, a cardiovascular lab, locker and training rooms and a practice gymnasium.

Dees, athletic director Barbara Bond and Coast Community College District trustees Mary Hornbuckle and Armando Ruiz all fit their hands on a giant pair of scissors and cut the blue ribbon in front of the complex. Dees, in a speech beforehand, said the school valued physical wellness as much as academic savvy.

“It’s a place where they’ll learn to reach a goal,” he said about the fitness complex. “Whether it’s running 30 minutes on a treadmill or losing 10 pounds of unhealthy weight or sitting at a desk for two hours to pass a class, that’s what a healthy mind and body are all about.”

The $12-million complex will only be open for regular use to students enrolled in physical education or other sports classes. In recent years, student athletes have used other locker rooms and facilities spread across the campus. Physical education coordinator James Shepard said those structures would be either demolished or converted for other uses.

Student Alesandro Randazzo, 20, called the new complex a marked improvement during his afternoon workout.

“It’s 100% better,” Randazzo said. “There’s so many machines. There’s always a machine available.”

As staff members led tours of the fitness complex Thursday, the Wendell Pickens Baseball Field held its own dedication ceremony. The field, named after OCC’s first baseball coach and athletic director, got new dugouts, backstops and surfacing for $2.5 million. Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Joe Quarles and longtime OCC benefactors Clarke Smith and Al Lambert threw out ceremonial pitches before the home team took on Cypress College.

Yglesias said he was grateful for voters’ support of Measure C, which passed in 2002. The measure sought to renovate all three campuses in the Coast Community College District, although it has recently pared down its project list due to rising construction costs.

“Tax is a hard deal for some folks because they think they’re paying too much as it is,” Yglesias said. “So when you can get tax money to support infrastructure, that’s great.”