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| April 5 , 2005
40th Anniversary Edition |
Previous bond money pushed MCC into the future
Loraine German
Mesa Legend
For the past four decades, Mesa Community College has been the college of choice for thousands of students, and the only way to keep up with the growth is by the bonds awarded to the Maricopa Community College District.
The last bonds awarded to the District were in 1994, with a total of $386 million, and one in 2004, with $111 million going to MCC. That is 12 percent of the total bond monies given to the District.
According to the Dean of Administrative Services Ron Etter, MCC completed every project on time and on budget with the money allotted in 1994. Projects at the Southern and Dobson campus included a new library, a new science building, additional parking, and refurbishment of existing facilities and technology. Also as part of the actions, the college purchased land and the roadway thus giving the school an entrance on Longmore. There are no plans in the immediate future for the land acquired.
The rest of the money was used for the creation of MCC’s second comprehensive campus: Red Mountain Campus at Power and McKellips Roads. The master plan called for four new buildings at the Red Mountain campus, but due to the increase in costs, only three were completed, explains Etter.
As part of the master plan for the 2004 bond, monies will be used at the Southern and Dobson campus for four new buildings, refurbishing of old facilities such as music, student services, nursing, physical science and English. It will also be used to enhance, replace and upgrade technology, hardware, software and networks, additional parking, and security measures. All of these changes add up to a total of $60 million.
Another $20 million will be used for the Red Mountain campus to add three new classroom and laboratory buildings.
The first stage of the Downtown campus will be developing with $10 million and the remaining $21 million will be used to provide teaching and learning technology for students and the faculty.
Etter explained the process of creating a bond proposal as a time consuming, detailed one, involving each of the 10 colleges in the Maricopa College District. First, faculty input their needs and opinions, and then aspects are studied such as the increase in population, demographics, and an environmental evaluation is performed.
During election time the voters choose whether or not to approve the bond. The 2004 bond passed with 76 percent of the votes, meaning that three out of every four voters agreed to a property tax increase in order to better the college system.
Dean Etter expressed that it was difficult to look far in to the future but that there are big hopes for the approval of a 2014 bond. He said that the process will begin again in 2012, and all the members involved will see if the plan is still applicable at the time. “Things have changed dramatically in the last few years and they definitely will in the future,” said Etter.
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