BGS to open in summer
What was promised to be open this spring semester has once again moved its date to summer of 2008.
Saddleback is ready to give the whole campus a new, modernized look.
It was in 2005 that this ordeal began with the demolishing of the inside of the Business and General Studies (BGS) building.
The first contract work on the building is scheduled to be done by mid-February of this year, while the additional work and details won’t be completed until May.
There is a possibility that some classes will be held at the BGS building this summer.
“The interesting thing about it is that, to most students, the building will look the same,” said Richard D. McCullough, Saddleback College President.
“The structure of the building is the same, every room has been relocated exactly where it was before, but the walls were completely torn down and rebuilt.”
The main problems with the building were water intrusion and unsettlement of soil underground.
The final cost of this renovation is approximately $8 million.
“The Village was mainly built as a swing place for the classes that need to be relocated during construction,” McCullough said. “After the BGS building is done, we will move on to the library, which we estimate to have done by 2010.”
Once all the classes that are currently available for students at the Village are relocated to the BGS building, the library is scheduled to be moved to the Village for an estimated two years.
“I personally don’t like having classes by the Village.” said Aaron Lapsley, 19, art. “Most of my classes are in the other buildings. If I drive there because of the rain, I lose my spot and, when the class at the Village is over, I can’t find parking in the other lots. It always upsets me.”
“I look forward to having the building back”, said Jennifer Modena 18, nursing. “It would make it easier to move around during the day, since history is my only class at the village.