Growing opportunities with a lot of progress and a little pain. That describes the exciting but challenging upcoming construction projects that are facing the Cuesta College San Luis Obispo Campus and North County Campus in the coming semesters.

Here is a brief list of the ongoing and upcoming construction projects:

• Construction is currently underway on the North County Allied Health, Math and Science Building, the first permanent facility on Cuesta’s North County Campus. The new $11.7 million, 23,764 square foot facility will house computer labs, classrooms and "Batdorf Hall," a lecture room named in memory of David P. Batdorf of Paso Robles. Batdorf’s family gave a generous donation of $100,000 to equip the new facility, and an additional $50,000 for overall college support.
  
  The building was designed by Phillips, Metsch, Sweeney, Moore, a Santa Barbara architectural firm. Architect Fred Sweeney is a Cuesta graduate and the college’s Honored Alumnus for 2000. Funding for the new building came directly from State capital funding, allocated through Proposition 47, which passed statewide in November 2002. The construction is scheduled to be completed by November 2004. The building will be ready for occupancy in January 2005.
  
• Cuesta has gotten the final go-ahead for construction on the Library Expansion and Reconstruction project from the State’s General Services Department. This $13.5 million, 35,002 square foot addition to the college’s main library and student services on the San Luis Obispo Campus reconstructs the existing Library/Administration Student Services Building, addressing a critical shortage of space for the library and Student Services. It provides space for a Curriculum Innovation Center and the District’s Main Data Processing Center, along with office space for the Health Center, Instructional Services, Employee Learning and Innovation Center, Computer Services and General Services. State funding through lease revenue bonds has been secured.
  
  The complex project involves three separate stages: (1) utility relocation and redirection of voice and data transmission from the campus’ main distribution frame in the library, (2) construction of the expansion and (3) relocations – moving Student Services into the new offices of the library expansion while their original offices are being remodeled, then moving them back when the remodeling is done. The other departments mentioned above will then occupy the new offices.
  
  The bidding process for construction is expected to begin in December, with a final decision slated for the February March Board of Trustees meeting. Following that, the construction timeline is expected to be approximately two years.
  
• A new 400-seat, $12.5 million Theater Arts Building is planned for Cuesta’s San Luis Obispo Campus. It will provide 24,193 square-feet of space for drama students, including labs to teach scenery construction, costume construction, staging and makeup. Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2004. The building is scheduled to be ready during the 2005/2006 academic year.
  

Other projects, which have not secured state funding for construction, include the following (listed years are estimated completion times):

• A $11.4 million, 30,050 square-foot North County Learning Center/Library (2006/2007 – North County Campus, Note: Proposition 47 has funded $700,000 for the preliminary plans and working drawings for this project).
  
• A $6.9 million, 19,391 square-foot Reconstruction of Biology and Chemistry Laboratories (2007/2008 – San Luis Obispo Campus).
  
• A $7.7 million, 25,190 square-foot Trades and Technology Complex (2007/2008 – North County Campus).
  
• A $3.5 million, 9,120 square-foot North County Early Childhood Education facility (2008/2009 – North County Campus).

Funding for the North County Learning Center/Library, the Reconstruction of Biology and Chemistry Laboratories and the Trades and Technology Complex is based on the passage of a proposed $12 billion statewide bond. The bond itself has not even been secured for the ballot in March. Funding sources for the North County Early Childhood Education facility are still uncertain.

State funds are expected to pay for the planning and construction of these facilities, with little allocated for equipment. The Cuesta College Foundation has started a multi-million dollar project to raise the necessary funds to equip these new buildings and provide students a state-of-the-art learning environment. The needed funds include $158,250 for the North County Campus Math, Science and Allied Health Building; $1.1 million for the San Luis Obispo Campus Theater Arts Building; $338,225 for the North County Learning Center/Library and $552,200 for the Reconstruction of Biology and Chemistry Laboratories at the San Luis Obispo Campus.