In the coming year, Las Positas will see its construction plans come to fruition. Grounds will be broken.
Using funds from Measure A — a voter-approved bond measure directing $950 million toward campus expansion and construction at Chabot and Las Positas College — Las Positas is improving its learning environments. With more students on campus since the pandemic, it has become crucial to expand in order to meet every student’s educational needs.
In a press conference with LPC President Dr. Dyrell Foster on Aug. 26, he spoke on the recent influx of students.
“Our fill rate for the college is 96.05%, which is the highest that it’s been over the last 10 years, compared to 90.52% last fall,” Foster said. “So to put it in perspective, that just means that of all the seats that we have, of all the sections and classes that we have available, we are experiencing a 96% fill rate.”
On June 7, 2016, Measure A — which granted nearly a billion dollars to LPC and Chabot campuses — received a 65% voter approval. Since then, the college has added the 2100 building, the 1000 building and the newly added Horticulture, Viticulture and Wine Technology facilities, which are located in buildings 3300, 3600 and 3700 respectively.
A look inside LPC’s Horticulture greenhouse at building 3300, completed in fall 2022. Students taking horticulture classes or participating in the horticulture program use the greenhouse as part of their workspace.
The school is engaged with what it calls the Facilities Master Plan. This fall, LPC is in the process of updating the plan.
“The Facilities Master Plan really kind of guides the needs and where we put those priorities in terms of resources for facilities to support our college and our students,” Foster said.
As a part of the plan, multiple facilities already in place have been fixed up this past semester, or are being remodeled in the coming months. These include the library, the inside and outside of building 800 and as of this past summer, resurfacing of the main pool. This school year there will also be a new Cultural Community Center located in a renovated room 2401.
“Where our old tutorial center used to be, we’re going to revamp that into what we’re calling the Cultural Community Center, because the Tutorial Center has now moved over to 2100 building,” Foster said. “We’re working on that space, which will include dedicated space for our LGBTQ, Dream Center, Puente program, AAPI students, ESL student communities.”
In a more recent development, a new STEAM building will replace buildings 600 and 800 by fall of 2025. It will feature laboratories, classrooms, faculty offices and art resources. In addition, the project will include renovations of the amphitheater and building 1800.
In a town hall meeting presented by Foster and Las Positas Student Government, Foster revealed that the school’s Public Safety Complex and Advanced Manufacturing and Transportation Facility won a 2024 Best Projects Award of Merit from the construction magazine Engineering News-Record.
“I just take so much pride in knowing that the learning environment for our students, the culture in which our students learn, is a priority,” Foster said. “It’s hard to learn in a culture or an environment that’s not inclusive, that’s not welcoming, that’s not supported. It’s also hard to learn in facilities that are not updated and current.”
Top photo: Building 3400 and 3500 were funded under the Measure A bond and began construction in the fall of 2021. The Public Safety Center and Advanced Manufacturing & Transportation, respectively, were completed in the summer of 2023. (Photo by Luke Vavuris/ The Express)
