Merced College receives $3 million federal grant to renovate vocational building
Merced College has been awarded a $3 million construction renovation grant from the federal Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration .
The grant and the remaining 2002 Measure H Bond funds will provide more than $9 million to renovate and modernize the vocational building near the center of the Merced campus, according to a news release from the campus.
Merced College President Chris Vitelli said the renovations on the vocational building and the new Raj M Kahlon Agriculture and Industrial Technology Complex serve as a “two-fold mission to serve our students and to meet the needs of our community.”
“Our students and instructors are going to love the new spaces we’re creating for them, and our community will continue to benefit greatly from these career technical and instructional programs,” Vitelli said in the release.
The two-story, 29,034 square-foot vocational building accommodates the international student services office, the college’s business programs, along with labs for computer science, administrative office management, accounting, foods and nutrition, and drafting technology.
Planned renovations for the building will consist of updating all heating, ventilation and air conditioning; rebuilding and modernizing the building’s interior labs and classrooms; reconfiguring spaces to accommodate different programs; new lighting and networking; classroom technology updates, updated handrails, restrooms and drinking fountains for accessibility, replacing the roofing system; and new landscaping and interior and exterior paint, the release said.
In addition, the remodeled building will include a new culinary lab, which will provide more opportunities for students desiring to go into the hospitality industry.
The new culinary lab and the renovations will increase the number of students who are able to complete the foods and nutrition program and open up possible doors for future careers.
“The new space will be a prominent fixture in the heart of the Merced campus, and will continue the college’s long tradition of educating and upskilling the local workforce,” Bryan Tassey, dean of career technical education, said in the release.
Joe Allison, vice president of administrative services, said the goal is to start construction as early as next summer. Planning for the project is expected to begin in fall this year, and construction is expected to be completed by the spring 2024.
“We recognize the urgency in modernizing these outdated facilities and want to complete this important project as quickly as possible to better prepare society- and workforce-ready graduates,” Allison said in the statement.