Golden West College debuts Language Arts Complex
Golden West College Interim President Meridith Randall remarked Thursday that former President Wes Bryant got the ball rolling on the new Language Arts Complex.
When it was Coast Community College District Chancellor Whitney Yamamora’s turn to talk, he mentioned that it was just his 13th month in that role.
“Not only does it take multiple presidents to build a building, it takes multiple chancellors to build a building as well,” Yamamora joked.
Those assembled at Golden West College in Huntington Beach for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new complex would agree that it was worth the wait.
The three-story Language Arts Complex, which opened for the fall semester, houses the division of offices for the college’s language arts department, as well as faculty offices for both language arts and social sciences.
It features 30 standard classrooms, 10 specialized instructional spaces, a student resource center and four group study rooms. The architecture features promote natural ventilation and lighting.
Also in the space is a three-story tall “welcome wall,” which says hello and welcome in 15 languages, including American Sign Language and braille. There’s also a special skylight featuring a phrase in Esperanto; translated to English it means “the essence of beauty is unity in diversity.”
“If you come any day in the morning or the afternoon, you will see the students distributed throughout the building, studying and relaxing,” Randall said. “Certainly, post-COVID, this is what we like to see, students returning to the campus. It’s not only good for us, but it’s good for them. The more time they spend with us, the more successful they are.”
The $55-million building was funded through both state funding and Measure M, a $698-million bond measure voters passed in 2012. Sundt was the construction manager on the project.
Board of Trustees President Mary Hornbuckle, acting Dean of Arts & Letters Martie Ramm Engle and Measure M Citizens Oversight Committee chair Steve Rosansky also made remarks Thursday. Paul Kareem Tayyar, an English professor, read from “The Book of Magic.”
Also in attendance and on the list of speakers were Assemblywoman Diane Dixon, Huntington Beach Mayor Tony Strickland and Westminster Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen. Huntington Beach Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark and City Council members Natalie Moser and Dan Kalmick, as well as Westminster Councilwoman Kimberly Ho, also gave remarks.
“Three of my children came to Golden West and I took a few semesters here,” Van Der Mark said. “It’s actually changed dramatically. Thank you for keeping this college going and improving it, it looks beautiful. It actually looks nothing like it did when I was here.”
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