CR Breaks Ground on $32 Million Expansion

College of the Redwoods students will be hearing plenty of hammers, drills and other construction related noises when the falls semester kicks off; thanks to a thirty-two million dollar expansion project that will bring a new academic center to the college. News channel 3's Cameron Cramer was at the groundbreaking and tells us what the new expansion will bring to the community college
Today it was a blank field and a single swatch of dirt, but it was also a vision: soon classrooms, state of the art technology and stunning architecture
"I'm a firm believer on providing the best possible space for students." Said CR’s Interm President Uptal Goswami.
And thirty two million dollars can buy that space, 63,000 square feet housing math science and humanities classrooms and labs, and while 29 million dollars of the construction was paid for by the state, Measure Q, passed by area voters, provided 3 million dollars of matching funds.
"I always maintain that the support of the local community is the margin of difference for an institution like a community college." Said Goswami
And local businesses will be completing the construction, including SJRr Masonry of McKinleyville, FR Stevens/Warfwood of Arcata and Floortec of Eureka. And while it's a field today, it should be a tangible building in
2013 and that excites the college.
"It will improve the infrastructure and learning experience for students...and with a new environment comes better moral." Said Goswali
The student body concurred.
"I've always been a huge fan of community colleges, I’ve been to a number of them and actually CR is a fantastic school, and this building will help make it a little better." Said CR student Philip Plansky.