Sierra to open new buildings next spring

Construction work on three new buildings is going on full-swing at the Sierra College Nevada County campus, Dean Neal Allbee said Friday.

The buildings should start coming up in the next month, Allbee said.

"They are just finishing up the ground work and the electricity and water lines are coming in," Allbee said. "We are set to occupy the buildings in February and March 2009."

Sierra College trustees and top officials attended a formal groundbreaking ceremony at the Grass Valley campus earlier this week, where they donned construction hats and turned the soil with shovels.

The groundbreaking event marked concrete progress on the $44.7 million project that's been constantly plagued with budget issues due to rapidly rising construction prices. In recent months, trustees have navigated through an arduous process of deciding which buildings to construct first with a budget shortfall of $5 million.

The first round of construction will cost about $25 million, Allbee said. It'll include an instruction building with four computer classrooms, two science laboratories and six general classrooms; a building for two-dimensional art for students of photography, drawing and graphic art; and a three-dimensional building for those learning sculpture and ceramics, Allbee said.

"It's a real satisfaction to see this coming about," Allbee said. "The bottom line is, we'll be able to meet more needs of students."

To contact Soumitro Sen, e-mail ssen@theunion.com or call 477-4229.