Doors open on next phase for Willow International
Willow International Academic Center 2 building
At Willow International Center, the brand-new Academic Center 2 (AC2) building is being prepared to welcome students and faculty for the fall semester. The 80,000-square-foot building nearly doubles the space of current facilities. The new building is part of the second phase of construction on the 110-acre Willow International campus, which was acquired by the District in 2003.
“We have been able to construct this state-of-the-art facility to better serve the students of Willow International Center now and as we continue to grow in the future.” – Dr. Terry Kershaw
Vice Chancellor, North Centers
“In California, community college centers are developed through stages, depending upon the growth of the campus and the ability to receive funding from the state and locally,” explained Dr. Terry Kershaw, vice chancellor of the North Centers.
Phase one, completed in the fall of 2007, included the construction of the 80,000-square-foot Academic Center One (AC1), cafe, and bookstore. In addition to classrooms and offices, the AC1 building houses a computer lab, art studio, forum hall, engineering lab, and multi-media lab. In partnership with the Clovis Unified School District, phase one also included a 12,000-square-foot Child Development Center offering an educational laboratory environment for pre-school children.
Microbiology Lab
The new AC2 building features a 7,700-square-foot library/learning center, chemistry labs (both organic and inorganic), a microbiology lab, a fitness center, and a dance studio. A new student services center houses offices for admissions, financial aid, counseling, a career center, and disabled students programs.
Library
Kershaw sees many benefits offered by the new building, including the “expansion of student support services and business services facilities, additional modern classrooms and labs, and the ability to add new programs and services,” he said.
Offices have already been moved, and students will begin using the new building when the semester begins August 16. A tour of the facility will be conducted for the SCCCD board of trustees on August 3.
Fiscal support for the project comes from local Measure E bond funds, as well as statewide bond funds.
“Due to the support of the local community and a statewide bond measure support,” Kershaw said, “we have been able to construct this state-of-the-art facility to better serve the students of Willow International Center now and as we continue to grow in the future.”
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