L.A. Harbor College Breaks Ground on New $21.3 Million Technology Building

New facility will include Transportation Security Administration and Homeland Security training programs — unique in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (November 27, 2006) Continuing a program of new construction and improvements, Los Angeles Harbor College today celebrated the ground breaking for its new $21.3 million Technology Building. L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe, Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) Trustee Nancy Pearlman, LACCD Chancellor Darroch F. Young, and Harbor College President Dr. Linda Spink were among those who participated in the ceremony marking the beginning of construction on the new facility, which is slated for completion in mid-2008.

"The new Technology building will offer our students the chance to apply a unique variety of resources in exploring new educational opportunities in the fields of Architecture, Engineering, Media Arts and Business," said Spink. "This building will provide the necessary space and training tools needed to equip our students for the careers of tomorrow."

The new 60,000 sq. ft. building will provide space for new classrooms, drafting and engineering labs, and faculty offices, and will house Architecture, Engineering, Business and Administration of Justice programs.

The Administration of Justice Department program will provide unique training and equipment for the Federal Transportation Security Administration’s Flight Crew Program, a self-defense techniques class for crisis situations on planes. This will complement the College's Homeland Security training program, which will also be housed in the Technology building.

The new building will also house the only full service television station at a community college in the South Bay area, HCTV Channel 27, which serves 40,000 viewers in the region. The new studio will have enhanced production rooms, and full accessibility to the media arts lab for program production.

"With funds from Propositions A and AA, the Los Angeles Community College District is committed to providing its students with the best educational resources in order to prepare them for future careers, and this new Technology building at Harbor College is a prime example of how to accomplish that," said Pearlman.

The Technology building's architectural design was completed by SmithGroup of Los Angeles, and meets LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, a green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED™ system provides a national benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.

General contractor for the Technology building is Taisei Construction, a business based in Cypress, Calif. The new $21.3 million building is part of the campus' expansion, and has received funding from the Los Angeles Community College District's $2.2 billion Proposition A/AA Bond construction program, and State of California grants.

One of nine two-year public community colleges comprising the Los Angeles Community College District, Harbor College prides itself on being the college of choice for the nearly 400,000 residents of Carson, Harbor City, Gardena, Lomita, San Pedro, Wilmington, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Today, nearly 9,000 students are enrolled each semester.

The Los Angeles Community College District’s construction and modernization projects receive funding from Propositions A and AA, two bond measures overwhelmingly approved by Los Angeles voters in 2001 and 2003. Propositions A/AA are providing more than $2.2 billion for new construction and renovations at the nine community colleges. For more information, visit the construction program’s web site at www.PropositionA.org.