PORT ANGELES — A pair of aging Peninsula College buildings are expected to be razed over the next few years and be replaced with a state-of-the-art health sciences building and childhood development center.
Using state funding, plans are being drawn up for the Allied Health and Early Childhood Development Center, a 39,000-square-foot facility that college leaders hope goes into the construction phase in 2014 or 2015, said Phyllis Van Holland, Peninsula College spokeswoman.
The new health and childhood development building will replace Buildings L, which was built in 1980, and LE, from 1992.
The new building will be adjacent to the Keegan Hall science and technology building, previously known as M Building, on the southwest corner of the campus, Van Holland said.
It will include classrooms and facilities for the school’s nursing and health programs and early childhood development department, as well as preschool Head Start classrooms, she said.
The nursing and health program currently is in the L and LE buildings, and the Early Childhood Development program is located in a former handball court in the Wally Sigmar Athletic Complex.
The building would be the first new one at Peninsula College to be constructed under the leadership of President Luke Robins.
Robins oversaw the 2010 construction of the $45 million main campus at the new Louisiana Delta Community College in Monroe, La.
Van Holland said the health and early childhood building is in the pre-design and design phase, using $1,810,000 in state funding.
The estimated final cost of the building will not be known until the design is finalized.
Schacht Aslani Architects of Seattle was selected by the Peninsula College Board of Trustees to develop plans based on the college’s needs.
The firm also designed the college’s Maier Hall and Library Media Center buildings, and is working on the exterior restoration and interior renovation of the college’s Port Townsend campus Building 202 at Fort Worden State Park.
Construction depends on state funding during the 2015-2017 biennium, Van Holland said.
Former college President Tom Keegan oversaw the replacement of about 75 percent of the aging campus buildings during his 11-year term, from 2001 to 2012.
Keegan led the college through dramatic enrollment growth, a transformation of the teaching and learning environment, and a $120 million capital construction campaign.
Under his leadership, the college constructed five large, modern college buildings, each of which replaced two to four small older buildings, and the Peninsula College Longhouse in a historic educational partnership with North Olympic Peninsula tribes.
Construction during the Keegan era included Student Services Building in 2004; Keegan Hall technology and science building, and Peninsula College Longhouse and House of Learning in 2007; Library Media Center and administration building in 2008; and Maier Hall arts and humanities in 2011.
Also in 2011, Wally Sigmar Field received a $1.45 million artificial turn upgrade.
In January, a $1.2 million sports complex fitness center expansion was completed, funded by a 2010 student ballot measure that added a fitness center fee for enrolled students.
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
