Los Medanos College Begins New Era with the Grand Opening of Science and Mathematics Buildings

The opening took place on Monday, September 15 in the science building’s large lecture hall (Room 136B). Los Medanos College is located at 2700 East Leland Road in Pittsburg, CA.

Activities began with an opening ceremony, tours of the new classrooms and labs, special demonstrations, presentations, and telescope viewing from the roof of the science building. A special memorial plaque was unveiled in the chemistry area in honor of Stanley H. Chin, a founding LMC chemistry faculty member and president of Los Medanos College, 1994-95.

The 51,000-square-foot science building was built at a cost of $25 million and completed in May 2008.  It was host to classes for the first time this past summer. It includes a wide variety of science labs: anatomy, general biology, major’s biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, microbiology and physiology, strength and engineering, and physics, along with a rooftop observatory with telescopes for astronomy classes. The building includes two lecture halls, one accommodating 128, the other 60.  There are two special areas: the “Biology Learning Center” on the first floor and a tech/media center on the second.  A total of 34 faculty and support staff are based in more than twenty office spaces. Additional prep labs and several conference, seminar and group study rooms complete the building. The interspacing of classrooms, labs and prep areas were extremely well planned.

The $10.3 million mathematics building, which began housing classes in summer 2007, provides 23,000-square-feet of new classroom, lab and office space.  A beautiful quad complete with a grand staircase and fountains provides a grassy, tree-lined link between the buildings, along with arbor-covered seating for students, staff and faculty to enjoy. In addition to the science and mathematics buildings, the quad is bordered by the LMC library, the first of the three buildings to be completed, officially opened in June 2007.

The new quad creates a stunning and revolutionary focal point for the Los Medanos College campus that, until now, was based almost entirely in a single concrete building since the opening of the college in 1974.  The original building will continue housing admissions, student services, and the remaining academic departments.

The project was funded by a combination of local Bond Measure A passed by the voters of Contra Costa County in 2002, and state capital bonds that LMC earned as result of its continued growth.  The three buildings, quad, along with solar panel-covered parking lots have transformed this once small campus into a much larger and growing college.  Classroom and lab space has increased by 50% with the addition of the three new buildings.

“The completion of the science and mathematics buildings is the culmination of a dream for many of the students, faculty and staff at Los Medanos College,” explained Los Medanos College President Peter Garcia.  “We are now able to offer our students state-of-the-art facilities, cutting edge technologies, and highly expert faculty in all of the sciences and mathematics. We are most appreciative for the local support we received for Bond Measure A (2002), and look forward to educating generations of students while enhancing the quality of life for our entire community.”

See the slideshow below for pictures from the grand opening celebration on September 15th 2008