On June 5th at United Way Galveston County Mainland on Tuesday, June 5 at 6 p.m. there will be another meeting to discuss the Bond Proposal for College of The Mainland. What follows is a brief look into what was discussed at the last meeting. Interested parties, business owners, parents, students, are more than welcome to attend and share your thoughts, get your questions answered, and learn about the exciting plans for moving our beloved College of the Mainland out of the 60’s and into the 21st Century. Facility Tours Mary Ann Amelang, Associate Vice President of Institutional Advancement, and Dr. Carla Boone, Dean of Workforce and Continuing Education, led tours to the Math & Science building and the Tech-Voc building. The tours allowed guests to see the condition of the buildings on campus. This was an opportunity to see the limitations in size, design and equipment the current faculty has been working under as well as the renovations that have been completed so far and those panned for the near future. Alan Stilts, PBK Architect, gave attendees an overview of the Long Range Facility Master Plan which is being designed to facilitate and meet or exceed the needs identified in the Academic Master Plan. Stilts gave an update on the maintenance projects that are underway at the college. Work is progressing on a metal building off Monticello that will initially be used as the book store and then will revert to a storage building for the facilities department. They will continue to work on the Physical Education building which is being converted into a multi-purpose center and soon will start on renovations to the Student Center. All of the exterior bricks will be removed and replaced. The building will become more energy efficient with a better exterior and new roofs. A new chemistry lab is forthcoming and crews also are replacing underground utilities. New construction for College of the Mainland included in a possible bond includes include a new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and Allied Health building. “Everything is reactive to the Academic Master Plan and the needs of the students. The first phase is to respond to that Academic Master Plan.” Another new addition on campus would be a next generation learning facility – Industrial Careers Building. Once built, programs currently residing in the Tech Vocational building, such as PTEC, would be moved here. The proposed new buildings also would require a Physical Plant expansion in order to bring the new buildings online. The Tech-Voc building would require about $14 million in maintenance repairs. That is where it starts to become not cost effective. The Tech-Voc building would eventually be demolished but not before being used to house the police department and other employee offices. The original plan was to build a new Welcome Center next to student center. However, right now when you first come onto campus, the first building you see is the Administration Building and that is where students go first. We are looking at welcome as a one-stop shop. Since first looking at this project in 2016, the thought was to make about $4 million in improvements to the admin building. That has changed and instead the admin building would be demolished to make way for a two-story Student Success Building. Everything about for the bond program centers on the students. The new Student Success Center would be a one-stop shop for students’ enrollment, financial aid, and advising – all under one roof. The second story of the building would be the administration suites as well as offices currently housed in the Appomattox Square offices. Offices in the current Administration Building would temporarily move to the Tech Vocational building. Other upgrades include addition and renovation of the Fine Arts Building, Life Cycle Technology Upgrades (like fiber optics) and the demolition of the current Police Department, Tech Vocational and Administration buildings. After the demolition of the Tech Vocational Building, the area would be able to accommodate the construction of a true Academic Center. There has been a collaborative process between COM administration, PBK, stakeholders and endusers. The initial project was determined by reviewing the college needs, Academic Master Plan and required priority maintenance projects. New buildings to be considered include: New STEM/Allied Health Building, New Industrial Careers Building, New Student Success Building .Additions and Renovations include; Physical Plant Expansion, Fine Arts Building Theater Addition and Renovation, Life Cycle and Technology Upgrades. Scheduled buildings for Demolition: Police Station, Tech Vocational Building, Administration and Enrollment Center. This bond proposal is still in the planning stages. Every effort is being made to ensure the plan is designed to meet the needs of our communities, our medical and industrial employment needs for highly skilled, qualified employees, as well to providing an exceptional next step for high school graduates, individuals requiring or desiring additional skills to move ahead in their careers or to step into another career path. Not only is a college a strong economic indicator in the role of developing and retaining our young people for careers but it attracts businesses to an area, encourages diversity, growth, and an overall healthy environment in which to raise a family. Bringing our College into the 21st Century will prove to be a boon to every aspect of life on the Mainland. Plan to join in and be a part of this exciting period of growth and opportunity. We’d like to invite you to the 2018 COM Bond Advisory Committee Meeting which will hold its fourth meeting this upcoming Tuesday, June 5. Your input is critical in determining the direction and future of the college, our programs, and most importantly, our students. The meeting will be held from 6 to 7:30 PM at the United Way Galveston County Mainland Training Room, located at 2800 Texas Avenue in Texas City. College of the Mainland will be presenting the proposed projects and accompanying details included in a recommendation for a potential November 2018 Bond. Light appetizers will be served. We hope you will join us at this very important meeting as we continue the Bond Advisory Committee’s work. We look forward to working with you in developing a plan that will make COM the college of choice in our service area. Please RSVP to Denese Angelle at dangelle1@com.edu or 409-933-8675.
Sincerely,
Dr. Warren Nichols, President
College of the Mainland
