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CREATED:20100118T210400Z
DESCRIPTION:College of Marin ready to decide on controversial building plans\nBy Rob 
 Rogers\nPosted: 01/15/2010 05:45:03 PM PST\n\nCollege of Marin officials 
 will vote Tuesday on whether to move forward with the proposed Gateway 
 project, scale it down or abandon it altogether.\n\nThe college Board of 
 Trustees met Friday to discuss their options for the controversial project, 
 which would replace four academic buildings and serve as the entrance to a 
 redesigned Kentfield campus. The Gateway would be the last in a series of 
 new buildings constructed using $249.5 million in bond funds that voters 
 approved in 2004.\n\n"While the College of Marin is known for having some 
 of the worst facilities in the state, it's also known for having one of the 
 best academic programs in the state," said V-Anne Chernock, who heads the 
 building program as the college's director of modernization. "The need to 
 maintain that program is paramount."\n\nWhile the Gateway project had 
 appeared to be a fait accompli as late as November 2009, it has drawn 
 criticism from some trustees and community members, who believe the bond 
 money would be better spent on repairing the college's older buildings. 
 Some have argued that the state's refusal to provide additional funding for 
 the project makes it too expensive for the college district.\n\n"Before you 
 open up another hole in the ground, do what that bond money was supposed to 
 do: modernize and upgrade the existing system," drama instructor David 
 White told the board.\n\nYet others say the Gateway is an essential fix for 
 a crumbling college.\n\n"The Harlan Center has no 
 accessible\nAdvertisement\noffices for the disabled on the second floor. 
 Olney Hall is a nightmare," said Sara McKinnon, an instructor at the school 
 for 28 years. "All of these buildings are at a major risk of being 
 destroyed in an earthquake. Not to replace them would be 
 irresponsible."\n\nThe college estimates the Gateway would cost $33.6 
 million to build, including $17.5 million drawn from remaining bond funds 
 and another $16.1 million in leftover cash. Officials say that's money 
 they've saved thanks to lower-than-expected bids on other construction 
 projects.\n\nRepairing the four buildings the 48,000-square-foot Gateway 
 would replace would cost only $28.9 million. However, Chernock said doing 
 so would cause significant construction delays, and could require 
 additional - and costly - environmental reports.\n\n"It's probably due to 
 the recession that we've been able to get these things built" at a lower 
 cost, said Bill Scott, chairman of the college's bond oversight committee. 
 "By delaying this project even one year, you could be looking at 15 to 20 
 percent higher costs."\n\nAnother possibility, Chernock said, would be for 
 the college to replace three of its buildings with a smaller, 
 21,000-square-foot version of the Gateway and repair the Harlan Center, the 
 least dilapidated of the buildings to be replaced. That project would be 
 about $600,000 cheaper than the original Gateway plan, but could also 
 require additional planning and construction delays, Chernock said.\n\nIn 
 addition, deciding not to go ahead with the Gateway project could require 
 the college to reconvene its district modernization committee, one of the 
 organizations that called for the project during six years of community 
 meetings and design conferences.\n\nCollege President Frances White made it 
 clear she continues to support the project.\n\n"Do you want a taqueria to 
 continue to be the entrance to an institution that is in the top five of 73 
 community college districts in California in academic transfers?" asked 
 White, referring to a restaurant on campus property that would be torn down 
 if the Gateway is built. "Given what we know today, the (Gateway) option is 
 the only one that matches up with the academic potential of the College of 
 Marin."\n\nTrustee Barbara Dolan made her opposition just as clear.\n\n"We 
 are on track for major destruction," Dolan said. "I see the loss of our 
 historical fabric, rare trees being torn up and quaint and funky buildings 
 torn down because someone decided they were unrepairable. We're already 
 overbuilt. Why do we want to add even more buildings?"\n\nput up 
 by\n\nhttp://twitter.com/davidaquinley\n\nmostly outisde bay area mostly 
 events + 
 news\n\nhttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000031433391&ref=mf#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=100000031433391\n\nhttp://digitaldaq.deviantart.com/gallery/\n\nmostly 
 inside sf bay area\nevents + news\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/18/18635587.php
SUMMARY:Kentfield:College of Marin Board Decides on GateWay project
LOCATION:IF YOU GO: The College of Marin Board of Trustees will discuss whether to 
 move forward with the proposed Gateway complex during a 6:30 p.m. meeting 
 Tuesday at the Deedy Staff Lounge of the Student Services Building, 835 
 College Ave. in Kentfield.\n\n\n\ntime length is a joke im sure they'll be 
 done by midnight 
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/01/18/18635587.php
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