Santa Monica College will break ground for its new $26.6 million Liberal Arts Building at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7.
Construction of the project, which will replace a 1952 structure that was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, will be done in two phases, with completion expected in April 2007.
The 53,000-square-foot complex has been designed as two three-story units that will be connected by pedestrian bridges and walkways. Located just south of Drescher Hall, it combines Roman brick, painted metal, white concrete and glass and will face onto a campus quad.
The complex will house the history, social science and psychology departments. The first phase will contain nine classrooms and faculty offices and there will be 13 classrooms, faculty offices and lab and tutoring space in the second phase. The classrooms are wired for computer and Internet access.
The designer of the college’s Madison performing arts complex, Renzo Zecchetto Architects of Santa Monica, also designed the new building. Project architect is the Santa Monica office of Gensler.The $26.6 million is composed of $10.2 million from the City of Santa Monica Earthquake Redevelopment Project, $3.08 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, $4.4 million from the state, and $8.9 million from Measure U, the 2002 Santa Monica-Malibu bond measure.
