Posted: Feb. 17, 2015 | Written by Crystal Olmedo
Riverside City College began construction of a new Student Services and Administration building in December 2014. RCC has commissioned Multi-Prime Construction Management to build the new two-story, 44,000 square foot SSA building. The new building will be located at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Fairfax Avenue.
“Student services is currently scattered throughout the campus, so the idea is to have a one-stop center and integrated office, facing Magnolia Avenue,” said Wolde-Ab Isaac, interim president of RCC. “It will be the first building that students will meet when entering the campus and they will be able to easily find all the services they need instead of having to wander around the campus.”
The current Administration and Veteran services will be demolished. According to Isaac, it has not yet been determined how the space will be utilized. The SSA is scheduled to be finished by April 2016, to coincide with the RCC Centennial celebration.
Parking lot B, which provided 310 staff and student parking spaces, will be eliminated during the construction of the new SSA. There will be 170 parking spaces around the SSA when it is finished, resulting in a loss of 140 previously available spaces. The top level of the parking structure will be painted with staff parking spaces for the 2015 spring semester.
To curb the traffic that will result from the yearly student population increase, RCC Campus Police and Parking Services has made under utilized spaces available near Evans Field. According to Jim Miyashiro, chief of RCC Campus Police, about 100 parking spaces will available at the Fox Theater in downtown Riverside as well as a lot owned by RCC on the northeast corner of Olivewood Avenue and Ramona Drive.
Isaac and Miyashiro are also working on making spaces at Riverside Community Hospital and Central Middle School available to RCC students.
Miyashiro advises students and staff to arrive to school early because of the anticipated traffic due to the combination of SSA construction and the ongoing construction on the 91 freeway.
Staff, students and faculty will have to make adjustments in their schedules and commutes to RCC during the construction process.
“It will be a challenge to find parking, but you have to think about what you’re suffering for and if it is worth it, and if we’re going to have a great Student Services Center, than it’s worth it in the long run,” said Mark Haines, associate professor of dance at RCC. “It warms my heart that this college continues to be dedicated to its students.”
