Times Three

Exotic animal center, child development facility are highlights of $356 million plan for three Ventura colleges

By David Silva

While all constructions workers know their work is dangerous, few in California can say their job carries a risk of being eaten.

But for those working on the Exotic Animal Training and Management Center at Moorpark College, keeping on the right side of the food chain is a big part of their daily safety precautions. The center is one of three of major construction projects that the JCM Group, a Heery International company located in Los Angeles, is overseeing for the Ventura County Community College District.

"We have to work around the schedule of the animals, because noisy equipment will - bother them," says JCM's Leslie Dickey, who oversees the $356 million facilities upgrade and rebuilding plan for Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura community colleges. "So we worked with staff to do things like move the monkeys out of the area, then we'd fix the area and move them somewhere else.

"The animals were generally well behaved. They do tend to get excited when workers are around, but, fortunately, it's going smoothly."

The EATM was established in 1974 and currently houses more than 200 animals, including an African Lion, Bengal Tiger, Asian Elephant, as well as anacondas, Bald Eagles and squirrel monkeys. Students are required to work at America's Teaching Zoo most days and weekends. This requirement is in addition to the long hours and days spent working with and caring for the animals and attending classes. Graduates of the EATM program are working all over the world, in many different situations involving animals, the college said, including training dolphins and other marine mammals, doing conservation work, training animals for television and films, and working at zoos and theme parks.

Moorpark College will receive more than $104 million in upgrades and additions. Of that, $12.7 million is going into the exotic animal center.

The 13,000-sq-ft facility will feature three large lecture classrooms, including a 150-seat multipurpose digital theater, as well as a veterinary science laboratory, faculty offices, lobby and workroom.

JCM contracted Lee Construction of Simi Valley to build the facility, which is scheduled to reopen in August 2008.

Armed with a 10-year master plan and funds from Measure S - a voter-approved bond initiative - JCM has been working since 2001 to modernize and expand facilities at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura community colleges. Several of the projects have been completed while others are in various stages of development. The entire effort should be done by 2011.

Oxnard College is undergoing a $110 million face-lift, from what Dickey describes as a "plain, high school-type campus to a world-class campus that Oxnard can be proud of."

Two major elements - the renovation of the college's 25,000-sq-ft gym and the addition of a 4-acre athletics facility - were completed last summer. Gym improvements included bleacher repairs and the addition of restroom facilities and a training room. The athletics field includes a running track, women's softball field, soccer field, press box for the existing baseball diamond, and concession stand.

Work began recently at Oxnard on a 37,500-sq-ft Student Services Center and Food Services building. The campus library and learning center are also being expanded.

Paul Murdoch, a Los Angeles-based architect recently selected to design a Sept. 11 memorial in New York, designed the library project. Gonzalez/Goodale Architects of Pasadena designed the gym and athletics facilities.

A new waterline infrastructure for the facility is about 90 percent finished.

"What's interesting about that is we're going to continue to use the old waterline by switching it over for irrigation use once the new system is in," says Miguel Renteria, JCM's project director for Oxnard.

The 81-year-old Ventura College is targeted for about $117 million worth of improvements, including a $22 million replacement library that opened last year. The 86,000-sq-ft library houses student counseling and business offices, a transfer and career center, and other student services.

Other new buildings will include a 60,000-sq-ft Advanced Technology Center/General Science Center building, a 26,000-sq-ft Health Science Center building, and a 22,000-sq-ft Science Arts building.

"Ventura College was built a long time ago and all the buildings tend to be small, single-level structures," Dickey says. "The campus is sort of dotted with these small buildings. We're going to demolish a lot of the small buildings and build a few larger ones. What that's going to do is open the campus up and give it more of a college feel, with larger lawns and more landscaped areas."

Santa Monica-based Gensler Architects designed several of the academic buildings. Landmark Design of Thousand Oaks provided architectural plans for landscaping.

Along with the exotic animal center, Moorpark College will also get a 65,850-sq-ft Library/Resources building, 41,139-sq-ft Academic Center, 38,546-sq-ft Health Sciences building, and numerous smaller facilities. Major renovations include expanded athletics facilities and a complete overhaul of the school's arts and communications complex.

Currently in the construction documents stage at Moorpark is an $8.7 million, 12,400-sq-ft Child Development Center. Designed by Spencer/Hoskins Associates of Altadena, which specializes in college construction, the center's five classrooms will serve as a day-care facility for children of Moorpark students and as a classroom for the students themselves.

"Each classroom will house up to 20 children, and in each room will be observation areas for students to go to observe the activities of the children," says Stephen Hoskins, a principal, partner and project architect for Spenser/Hoskins. "Since we're dealing with younger children, designing for safety and height requirements probably adds to the construction costs because everything's specialized."

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