Several bond-funded Portland Community College campus improvement projects are progressing. The efforts are intended to modernize instructional spaces, improve wayfinding, address deferred maintenance needs, and enhance accessibility.

Voters in 2022 approved a $450 million bond measure. Currently, four major projects include a renovation of the Communications Technology (CT) Building at the Sylvania campus, a renovation of the west side of the Health Technology (HT West) Building at Sylvania, construction of a new building to hold automotive and construction technology programs and a renovation of Building 2 at the Rock Creek campus, and construction of a new health center in downtown Hillsboro.

“We also have accessibility, IT upgrades, safety upgrades, deferred maintenance, and a roof budget line item,” said Rebecca Ocken, director of planning and capital construction at PCC.

The CT Building will be fully renovated. As part of permanent relocation of “swing spaces,” the work will involve renovating the second floor of the Technology Classroom Building, renovating the Social Science Building, and remodeling select areas of the South Classroom Building.

Also, the Performing Arts Center plaza, bookstore plaza, and other common gathering areas will be revitalized to create a more accessible and vibrant campus.

The Sylvania campus entryway will also gain better accessibility, safety and wayfinding. Other improvements are planned for the area north of the CT Building, and the P11 parking lot.

“This year, we tried ‘Future Sylvania’ as an all-encompassing name to talk about not only CT, but HT West, swing spaces, the improvements to the campus entry, and all the deferred maintenance,” Ocken said. “There’s a lot going on.”

The CT Building project team includes architects BRIC Architecture and Studio Petretti, civil engineer KPFF, structural engineer VALAR Engineering of Clackamas, and general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis. The project budget is about $65 million.

PCC officials expect construction of the CT Building project to start this fall and finish in about two years.

Meanwhile, crews are wrapping up the HT West renovation at Sylvania. Existing spaces are being enhanced to create a welcoming environment. Common spaces are being updated to ensure accessibility and foster collaboration. Three health care classrooms, and four physical education rooms are being added.

Also, an inclusive locker room is being added, and the building’s mechanical, electrical and roofing systems are being updated for greater energy efficiency.

The HT West project team includes Woofter Bolch Architecture and general contractor Fortis Construction. The project budget is around $30 million.

HT West is scheduled to reopen late this month for the spring quarter.

The construction of an approximately 14,000-square-foot building and the renovation of Building 2 at Rock Creek is in schematic design. The building currently houses career technical education (CTE) programs such as building construction, welding, and automotive collision repair as well as computer labs, general academic programs, student resource centers, collaboration spaces, and staff office and meeting areas. PCC plans to seek a land use permit to allow construction of a new building for automotive programs and construction technologies programs.

“(Those programs) will be pulled out of Building 2 and will give other CTE programs more space, and then we’ll renovate the existing building,” Ocken said.

The work will include enhancing views of the surrounding natural environment while providing more equitable spaces to support learning, and increasing wayfinding, accessibility, safety, and stormwater mitigation.

The Building 2 project team includes Bora Architecture & Interiors and general contractor Fortis Construction. DAO Architecture is designing the new building. The project budget is approximately $85 million.

Construction is expected to start in late 2027 and finish in spring 2032.

For the health center (focusing on health education and workforce development) on Block 56 in downtown Hillsboro, PCC is partnering with Hillsboro School District and Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center. The school district will own the land and PCC and VGMHC will lease classrooms and clinic space, respectively, in the building.

“We’re excited to have both Hillsboro (School District) and Virginia Garcia be such strong and collaborative partners with us with both the building and the programming that we’re offering students,” Ocken said. “We’ve had discussions for years, so finally bringing it to fruition is an exciting moment for everyone.”

The project’s budget is $20 million, with a plan for the team to seek additional funds to account for cost escalation. The budget will be revisited as the project progresses, Ocken stated in an email.

A request for bids from design firms will be issued this month and one could be selected by the summer. A request for proposals from general contractors is expected to be issued this fall.

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A renovation is in progress on the Health Technology Building at Portland Community College‘s Sylvania Campus in Southwest Portland. The 100,000-square-foot renovation is the largest project from PCC’s 2017 bond. The HT Building was built in the late 1960s.

Gary Sutton, senior project manager for the Office of Planning & Capital Construction, stated in a press release that there has been visible progress on the building in the past few months. The contractor has completed all of the demolition, seismic and structural work, including the majority of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing rough-in. The new air handler was installed on the roof late last month.

In addition, the exterior glazing is nearly complete around the building perimeter with the new skylight being installed and roofing scheduled to be finished later next month.

Sutton said the building is essentially “dried in,” with interior finishes beginning soon. That work includes the wall framing, sheetrock and ceiling systems. The scope of the job will continue through the end of the year, with the contractor beginning on the first floor and working their way up to the third floor.

The renovation project has included a build-out of many programs, including architecture, interior design, nursing, medical imaging and radiography, physical education and exercise science.

Until 2021, the biology labs used to be nested in the HT building but have moved to renovated space in Sylvania’s Science Technology (ST) Building.

PCC has already replaced the older HT medical imaging lab with a functional space, with a new open layout in the centralized suite.

In addition to ST, the Automotive Metals Building and its systems received several deferred maintenance improvements to the mechanical and exhaust systems, as well as replacement of the electrical gear and the remodeling of some existing classrooms to accommodate physical education classes during the HT renovation. Once HT is completed, the space will be fitted out as a large new classroom for the engineering department.

As part of all of this work, the campus will receive site improvements to enhance campus safety, accessibility, transit and connectivity. Plus, campus sustainability will be improved with increased landscaping and stormwater retention, and additional trees will extend the tree canopy, which can help cool temperatures in parking areas.

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