UKIAH, Calif. – The Mendocino-Lake Community College District Board of Trustees approved the final plans for the Mendocino College Lake Center project at its meeting Wednesday.
The new $7.5 million complex will be located on a 31-acre property located at 2565 Parallel Drive in Lakeport, just a mile south of the college's current Lake Center.
In a Thursday statement, the college anticipated that the project, expected to go to bid this summer, will be completed in December 2012, in time for classes to begin in the spring of 2013.
The college board selected and acquired the Parallel Drive site in November 2009, as Lake County News has reported. The land cost a reported $1 million.
The city of Lakeport pursued keeping the project within the city, and entered into an agreement with the college to share the costs of a new water main line extension to the site. On Tuesday the Lakeport City Council awarded the engineering contract for the water line's design phase.
The Mendocino College Board of Trustees on Thursday praised the city for its cooperation and support for this project.
Mendocino College officials reported that Measure W, approved by Lake and Mendocino county voters in November 2006, is funding the new educational center.
“The completion of this project will help Lake County students during these tough financial times by providing additional enrollment options and degree completion closer to home,” Mendocino College Superintendent/President Kathryn Lehner said in a Thursday statement.
Lehner said the new facilities will reduce the college’s rental expenses and utility costs through a more efficient energy system.
The college selected Santa Rosa-based TLCD Architecture, which has designed a number of educational facilities around the region, as the project's architect. The firm has made several presentations of its plans to the board, with no recent changes, according to the college board's Wednesday packet.
The board report stated that the project has been submitted to the Division of the State Architect for plan review. Once that step is finished and it has the state architect's approval, the building can go out to public bid. The Division of the State Architect's approval is anticipated to occur this July, clearing the way for classes to start in 2013.
The college reported that the Lake Center's phase one plans call for buildings totaling approximately 15,000 square feet.
The complex will include a central administrative building that will house admissions, counseling, learning resources, meeting and gathering spaces, and a classroom configured to allow for community activities, Mendocino College reported.
Two other buildings to be included in the new facility are the general classroom complex, which includes five classrooms and a computer lab, and another classroom building that includes teaching laboratories for science, music and art, according to the report.
Officials said all of the Lake Center's spaces will be focused around a central student plaza area “which takes advantage of the natural features of the site with views of the oak grove, adjacent hills and Mt. Konocti.”
The site's location will also serve to make it easily accessible both form the Lakeport Boulevard off-ramp to the north and the intersection at Highway 175 to the south, the college said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
