Students at Ocean Campus Face More Changes with Construction
By Ellen Silk-Editor
Construction of the new joint use facility has temporarily cut student parking in half and is limiting access to areas of the Ocean campus during the 2008 Summer Session according to James Blomquist, associate vice chancellor of facilities, planning/management.
The new building will be shared with students from San Francisco State University and will house programs such as teacher preparation, as well as other programs jointly taught at both colleges.
According to Blomquist, students will have 1500 parking spaces in the reservoir once the fall semester begins. This is 500 parking spaces less than before the start of construction. The demolition of the old gyms will add 300 more parking spaces and bring total student parking to 1800 spots on Ocean campus. The new parking area, said Blomquist, will help relieve spaces lost in the reservoir. The 700 and 600 bungalows will remain at least until the joint use facility is completed in 2010.
“Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to use mass transit as much as possible — especially the first couple of weeks of the semester when traffic is heaviest,” said Blomquist in a press release issued in May 2008.
The demolition of the gyms will also cut off pedestrian access behind the football field.
“The area bounded by East Road (east), Havelock (north), Lot D (south) and the West Road (west) will be a construction zone. Access to this area will be for construction crews and fire crews only. Pedestrian or vehicular access will be allowed for emergency purposes only,” stated an email to the City College community.
During the demolition period, the message said, Havelock Street will be open to vehicles and foot traffic and allow temporary pedestrian access to the tennis courts. Students going to the 700 bungalows and tennis courts will have to travel along the north side of the field and through Batmale hall.
“We hope to have the parking available by the first day of classes in the fall,” said Blomquist.
Noise could possibly be an issue for students and staff in the bungalows but Blomquist said construction noise could be limited to times when classes are not in session.
“Primary construction traffic will be on and off Ocean Avenue, not Phelan Avenue, which will also help. Traffic on Phelan Avenue will be impacted temporarily while new signalized crosswalks are installed, but that work will be done in off-hours to the extent feasible,” said Blomquist.