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"It will be a very nice facility and even have a student lounge. It will be very attractive"

-Thomas Meyer
Interim Dean, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

New math building solves many problems

By Jaclyn Loveless

Get ready for the dust to fly on the CSUB campus. The university is planning to build a new mathematics and computer science building beginning in spring 2006 to have it ready by the 2008 winter quarter.

“We currently have completely unacceptable conditions for students and faculty,” said Thomas Meyer, interim dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

 The new building will have three stories and house about 15 laboratories, seven classrooms, and 70 faculty offices. Some of the classrooms will hold nearly 100 students. “It will be a very nice facility and even have a student lounge,” Meyer said. “It will be very attractive.” Other plans for the building may include moving the Jazzman Café from its current location to the new building and adding Subway sandwich service.

The design has been part of a collaborative effort with different faculty members to determine the needs for the campus. Studios Architecture of San Francisco and S.C. Anderson Inc. of Bakersfield are jointly working together on the 54,000 square-foot structure using what Meyer called a new method, Construction at Risk. This is where the construction manager and architect work together to avoid potential future problems like expensive changes.

The building and landscaping will cost about $17 million. The project is funded by Proposition 55, part of a statewide bond passed in March 2004. CSUB received about $20 million for repairs and new construction.

Mike Neal, vice president for business and administrative services, said the school plans to build two new parking lots to replace Parking Lot E, site of the new science building. Lot E has spaces for 400 vehicles. The new lots will accommodate 600 vehicles. One lot tentatively will be placed south of the Business Development Center and Student Health Center in what is currently the intramural field. That field will be relocated possibly to the former site of the Borton, Petrini & Conron Bakersfield Business Conferences. The other lot may be positioned north of the Doré Theater along CSUB Way where the school sometimes opens an overflow lot for parking. “This new construction shouldn’t hurt where students are traveling,” Neal said.

Pat Jacobs, director of CSUB’s facilities management, said the school is attempting to cluster all the buildings in the center of the campus. “We’re trying to keep the vehicle and walking traffic separate,” he said. “The architects have done calculations and figured it should only be about a five-minute walk from the farthest parking lots to the main campus.” Construction for the lots should start this fall and finish by February 2006.

The excess space in the old Science Building will be used possibly for the biology department, the nursing program or extra office space.

This latest project has been part of an even bigger one. Neal said this has been the first time there has been a major review of the CSUB master plan. “It has been about a year-long process where our neighbors, alumni, community, and supporters look at where we’ve been and where we’re going,” he said. “This will help determine what facilities the school will need in the future.” Neal said it has been very interesting in creating and revitalizing the campus.

The revised master plan includes the proposed new student housing development where the American Youth Soccer Organization soccer fields are currently. “From the time AYSO teams started playing games on the CSUB land, it was always understood that the university would eventually need the land for development,” Neal said. He added the new dormitories would resemble apartments and be more reflective of today’s lifestyle.

“President (Horace) Mitchell wants there to be enough housing for incoming freshman,” Neal said. With an uncertain timeline for construction, it is possible the soccer league could remain on the land through the summer and fall of 2006. Ideally the dorms will be ready for the fall 2008 quarter.

Meyer said additional future construction on campus might also include an engineering building in what is at present the southern portion of Parking Lot E.

Jacobs said the architects are currently interpreting all the feedback they’ve received. This data will then go to the master plan committee. The review should wrap up this summer and it will then head to the board of trustees for final approval.