A 421-bed student housing building with estimated costs of $100 million is in plan to be constructed as early as 2028 near a revamped Veterans Stadium at the Liberal Arts Campus.
LBCC college would be one of the few community colleges in California with housing for its students. 12 other community colleges in California have built dorms according to Campus Safety Magazine, a news network for campus safety specialists.
“We want to provide the opportunity to students,” said Chip West, LBCC vice president of business services. “Student housing adds to the resources for students who are housing insecure.”
The college has applied to the state for funds with its plan of constructing student housing, but will not know the result of the application until next June.
West said the school will continue with construction of student housing whether or not the school’s application is approved, expressing that the Board of Trustees support building student housing.
Bob Rapoza, director of business support services also mentioned the board’s support for the project.
“It’s ultimately up to the trustees to fund the bonds (if state funds are not approved). In my opinion, the board wants this to happen,” Rapoza said.
Rapoza explained that the process of constructing a building on campus is long and begins with the financial aspect of construction. The college has to figure out where the project funds will come from.
Afterward, the school will bring in design engineers to review construction plan documents and design of the structure, as well as show roughly how much the structure would cost.
Next, the formal bid process begins. The school will advertise its plans for student housing on campus to the public and contractors can submit a bid to work on the project.
LBCC will look over all proposals with a dedicated team to score every proposal and determine which contractor the school wants to proceed with.
Once the team approves a contract it must be approved by the President’s Cabinet and then the Board of Trustees. If all that is fulfilled, the contract will be awarded to the bidder.
Rapoza explained the timeline for construction for a building of this magnitude will probably be around five years with two of those years just for construction.