The original Las Positas College may soon be replaced by the new LPC. What opened as the “Valley Campus” of the Livermore Education Center of Chabot College in 1975, will soon give way to Campus Boulevard and the changing face of the school.
A proposed new two-or-three-story classroom building, made possible by remaining Measure B funds, would be built on the space that is currently occupied by the 100, 200 and 300 buildings. It would be part of the new look of LPC, replacing the oldest buildings on the campus with a new facility that would also be capable of increasing the amount of students that would be able to attend LPC according to Vice Chancellor of Educational Planning and Facilities Jeff Kingston.
The proposal was discussed at the Oct. 21 meeting of the District Facilities Committee meeting.
“(We would build) a new two-story building across from the Mertes Center that would create your other entrance to the campus,” Kingston said, according to the minutes of the Facilities Committee meeting, “and create a leading edge of your campus.”
“It would be a signature building that would go right on the corner,” he added. “The visuals are there.”
A mock-up of the proposed building is available in the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District’s (CLPCCD) facilities master plan, the building will have a U-shape, with the bottom of the “U” facing parking lot B.
Being so close to the Mertes Center for the Arts, the building could create a new visual first impression as people drive up from the turn off of Collier Canyon Road and up Campus Hill Drive.
It will also integrate the “Campus Boulevard” which aims to create one fluid pathway through LPC to improve what Kingston referred as “way-finding” for students.
The project may be on the fast-track as there is a time-constraint for spending remaining Measure B funds.
According to the language of Measure B, the district must reach certain spending goals over the next two years, and according to Kingston the district can support two large projects, one at Chabot and one at LPC.
The building would have 32,000 square feet of usable space. In total, the current plan is for it to be 40,000 to 45,000 total square feet and could be either two or three stories tall.
The building will also allow for LPC to reach what Kingston referred to as its “capacity load,” which the school is currently under.
“Capacity load is determined by ‘butts to seats,’” Kingston said. “(Currently) there are more butts than seats.”