PVCC Puma Press: March 2003

After two years of exhaustive planning, PVCC submitted the completed Campus Master Plan to the Maricopa Community College District Board in January.

Now, PVCC must wait to see whether Maricopa County voters share their vision of growth. The bond election day, when voters chose whether to issue bond funding, estimated to be $900 million, will take place some time in 2004. The District board will determine the exact election date.

As part of the 1992 bond election that finally passed in 1994 — providing the District with $385 million in funding — PVCC received about $35 million to implement their Campus Master Plan. Unfortunately, the money was not nearly enough to fund the construction that was necessary to meet their future growth.

"Since we didn't get nearly the funding we needed in 1994 to meet our growth, we now are really behind the curve in meeting our current student needs," says Dr. L Jane Saldana, dean of administrative services.

Because of the '94 funding shortfall, PVCC is short 235,000 sq. ft. of building space to meet its current needs. Adding to this problem are the new growth estimates for 2004 to 2014.

According to the 2004 Campus Master Plan, during this period, full and part time students are projected to increase by 74 percent, to a total of 15,927. Currently, PVCC has about 9,000 full- and part-time students. If the entire 2004 Campus Master Plan is implemented, it will add over 377,000 sq. ft. of space to handle this projected growth.

"We'll open a dialog beginning in the fall to get input from our faculty, staff, students and the community on how to best utilize the new space," says Saldana.

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Weþll open a dialog beginning in the fall to get input from our faculty, staff, students and the community on how to best utilize the new space
Dr. L. Jane Saldana
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The original 1987 site plan envisioned a circle-orientated campus layout, with most of the classroom and service buildings located in the inner part of the circle. Parking and athletic fields were planned for the outer perimeter of that circle. The plan allowed for easy access to buildings and facilities while making the best use of a limited land area.

The 2004 Campus Master Plan follows this vision, creating an oasis of education for students and the community. This architectural vision will be implemented in two phases: Phase One from 2004 to 2010 and Phase Two from 2010 to 2014. Phase One contains most of the additions and improvements.

A frequent student complaints is lack of parking, and Phase One adds 53 percent more parking on the north, east and south sides of the campus.

To allow traffic to move smoothly around campus and to access the new surface parking, the two-lane drive that currently moves traffic around the west and north sides of campus will be extended to completely encircle the campus.

The existing tennis and racquetball courts will be removed to make way for new surface parking, and new courts will be added along the southwest corner of the campus, next to the new softball field.

Also, a 25,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose recreation center will be constructed alongside the existing fitness center.

Phase one includes plans to expand the arts facilities with a new 6,000 sq. ft. Fine Arts and Ceramics building, located south of the M west building. It also includes over 158,000 sq. ft. of classroom and laboratory space and a 54,000 sq. ft. Student Services building.

The plan also addresses the daycare issue. The current day car center will be replaced by a new facility that will have twice the space. It will be built next to the west entrance to the campus.

Phase Two, beginning in 2010 will add 116,00 sq. ft of additional classroom space and a two-story parking garage with 550 spaces, to the eastside of campus.

According to the Plan summary, 80 percent of PVCC's enrollment comes from 12 zip codes surrounding the campus on the north and northeast, a service area that will become more affluent and more populated as growth continues in the North Valley.

"This new space will provide PVCC with the opportunity to better serve the future needs of our growing student and community population," says Saldana.

Saldana also indicated that if the bond election passes in 2004, campus construction would probably not begin until some time in 2006.