The celebration of Northwest Vista College’s 25th year anniversary this year is magnified by the current construction and renovation projects on campus. All faculty, staff, students and community members are impacted by these projects in some way. While the prospect of new things is exciting, it can also be tasking and confusing. Here is an update on progress we’ve made thus far.
Our work began in 2017 when Bexar County voters approved a $450 million general obligation bond for all five colleges within Alamo Colleges District. This included $69 million for NVC improvements and new buildings.
The original construction plan called for:
- New construction of the Desert Willow Welcome Center and Texas Ash Parking Garage
- Improvements in the Texas Persimmons Physical Plant
- Renovation of the Cypress Campus Center
- New construction of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) building
The construction of the Desert Willow Welcome Center and Texas Ash Parking Garage is almost complete. We are currently working on building safe access points to the buildings which includes driveways. The projected date of completion is this May.
The remodel of the Cypress Campus Center (CCC) is dependent on the completion of the Welcome Center. Until we have a new place to serve our students from onboarding through completion, we cannot renovate Cypress as that would pose safety hazards for our students, faculty, staff and community members.
The renovation of CCC will take approximately one-and-a-half years. First, we need to reskin (retrofit) the building to address some unexpected issues. While the reskinning of the building is adding $3.2 million to the renovation cost, it is necessary to address some reoccurring issues that we’ve had with CCC such as numerous water leaks. During the renovation, we will need to be creative and anticipate challenges regarding the availability of meeting rooms since Lago Vista will be unavailable. Planning for these challenges now will help us minimize stressors later.
The STEM building was originally slated for the final phase of construction, but starting the work will help safeguard against future price inflation. The projected date of completion for the STEM building is fall 2021.
I appreciate the patience, the dedication and flexibility that NVC faculty, staff and students have placed in the hands of our leadership, specifically that of Vice President for College Services Erin Sherman and her team who are leading and shepherding these enormous projects.
If you have any questions regarding constructions, please send them to me or Erin.