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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 10, 2005 RCC/SOU building plans hit fast-track By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune With state funding in place, construction of a shared Southern Oregon University and Rogue Community College education center could start in downtown Medford by this time next year, school officials said. "I think you could see dirt moving within a year," RCC President Peter Angstadt said. The building is proposed for the block bounded by East Eighth, Ninth and South Bartlett streets and South Riverside Avenue. In its final hours last week, the Legislature approved $5.5 million in bonding authority, along with $3 million outright in state funding for SOU and another $4.1 million in state bonding authority for RCC. Each school also must provide funds of its own — with SOU working to raise $2.5 million and RCC having already promised $5.75 million from its $24 million bond measure voters approved in November. While lawmakers wrangled over the funding for the shared building, RCC worked with Mahlum Architects, of Portland, to develop a master plan for its Riverside Campus downtown. Advertisement "We have affirmed the need for adequate-sized classrooms and faculty offices so we can deliver quality education," said Mary Louise Doran, executive dean of the campus. For RCC, the shared building would house classrooms for core classes that students need to transfer to a four-year institution. SOU would base a transfer center and continuing education classes there. "We haven’t decided on the number of classrooms for each and the number that would be shared," Doran said. The initial concept called for a 93,000-square-foot building that would provide about 20,500 square feet for the university and 20,220 square feet for the community college. Another 21,725 square feet would be shared space and roughly 30,500 square feet of hallways, entries, rest rooms and utility areas wouldn’t be assigned to either school. The funding made available doesn’t quite cover the roughly $24 million price tag the concept carried, however, so the project might be scaled down, Doran said. The RCC board meets next week to review Mahlum’s master plan work for the Riverside Campus and will discuss whether to allocate additional bond money to the joint project, do additional fund-raising or reconfigure the building, Angstadt said. In coming weeks, officials from the two schools will meet to work out partnership guidelines and a schedule for proceeding with bids for design services and other tasks leading to construction, he said. "We want to get started as soon as possible," Angstadt said. Lithia Motors, encouraged by the idea of a downtown educational center, has hired a firm to study the differences between building its headquarters downtown or in a suburban location on Highway 62 near the airport. "This is a nice link for downtown," Lithia Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sid DeBoer said of the joint learning center he helped advocate. Jeff Shneider, president of CSHQA Architects/Engineers/Planners, a Boise, Idaho, firm that will do the study for Lithia Motors, said the education center will be a key consideration in the study. "This is definitely one of the elements Lithia is interested in integrating with," he said. The center would help provide Lithia with an educated work force and even offer space for the company’s training needs, he said. "It can bring success downtown when corporations and education work together," said Shneider, who has been active in Boise’s downtown redevelopment. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail RCC/SOU building plans hit fast-track ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s