Word in late this Monday evening that the Everett Community College Board of Trustees has voted to put the new Learning Resource Center (think library plus more) across Broadway east of the current main campus. Here’s a press release just received.
Everett Community College’s Board of Trustees on Monday voted 4-1 to locate the college’s future Learning Resource Center on the east side of Broadway in College Plaza instead of at the former site of Index Hall.
The 70,000 square foot Learning Resource Center, which is scheduled to open in 2023, will replace the college’s Library Media Center and will include the library, Tutoring Center, Writing Center, eLearning and the Center for Transformative Teaching.
The board made the decision at its Oct. 15 board meeting after gathering information and feedback from students, faculty, staff and community members.
“This was a difficult decision. Board members looked at the needs of EvCC students now and 30 years from now,” said Mike Deller, chair of EvCC’s Board of Trustees. “There isn’t a perfect solution. We don’t have a lot of property.”
Building east of Broadway is part of the college’s overall campus plan and better meets the need of a growing campus, said EvCC Vice President of College Services Pat Sisneros. The west side of Broadway is dense with college buildings and congested; issues the College Plaza site avoids, he said.
The Learning Resource Center originally was slated for the former site of Index Hall. Proponents of that location argued that the Index site is more convenient and accessible for students.
All existing classroom buildings are located west of Broadway, a major arterial. The college will seek partnerships to build a pedestrian bridge over Broadway.
The college plans to replace Baker Hall, opened in 1962, with a new classroom building that will also be located east of Broadway, the Board also decided Monday. The building is tentatively scheduled to open in 2027.
EvCC’s current Library Media Center was opened in 1988 after a fire destroyed the college’s former library and student union, Cascade Hall, on Feb. 16, 1987.
The Library Media Center is now located on the first floor of the Parks Student Union. The Parks building was named after firefighter Gary Parks, who died while fighting the Cascade Hall blaze.
The existing library is 26,800 square feet, with only 255 spots for students to study individually or in groups.
The college received $4 million in state funds for the design of the Learning Resource Center. Companies have not yet been selected for the design or construction of the building, Sisneros said, and state funding for construction has not yet been allocated.
October 15, 2018
Everett Schools