Planning continues for new BBCC building, for now

MOSES LAKE — A hitch in the state budget process has halted progress on many state-funded construction projects, but work is continuing on the plans for the new workforce education building at Big Bend Community College.

At least for now.

The new building will house the college’s technical training programs such as welding and auto maintenance, with the exception of aviation mechanics. The state’s portion of the project is included in the capital budget, said Linda Schoonmaker, the college’s vice-president of finance and administration. But the capital budget is caught up in a dispute between the Washington Senate and Washington House of Representatives.

The sticking point is a decision by the Washington Supreme Court regarding wells and drilling wells, even wells that are permit exempt under state law. The Republican-led Senate wants legislation that would address the questions raised by the Hirst decision. The Democratic-led House has declined to pass anything. Projects in the capital budget have been agreed to by both parties, but the budget itself is stalled in the Senate.

Big Bend officials had raised about $6 million to expand the project and add a second floor. Because the college had money that was to be applied to the project, college officials can complete the design and construction documents, Schoonmaker said.

“We’ve been selecting materials,” she said, bricks and cinder block for the exterior and some interior materials.

The building will be located on Bolling Street, across from the ATEC building. Workshops for the automotive, welding, fabrication, maintenance mechanics and industrial systems technology programs will be located on the first floor, with computer science and transfer-degree STEM programs on the second floor. Four classrooms will be part of the first floor. The aviation maintenance classroom will stay on the flight line at the Grant County International Airport.

The project will be ready to go out to bid in February 2018, she said. That is, if the legislature has reached agreement and passed a capital budget.

The way the building was funded will require some of the existing buildings on campus to be demolished.

Most of the buildings scheduled for demolition currently house the programs that will be moved to the new building. Many date back to the 1950s and early 1960s, when the college was Larson Air Force Base.

In the half-century since they’ve been renovated and reworked to fit their current uses. The auto mechanics shop is an example; it houses both the BBCC program and the program from Moses Lake High School. It got a new heating-cooling system in 2013 at a cost of about $200,000.

Schoonmaker said college officials will go through the buildings slated for demolition and remove equipment that can be used elsewhere on campus, like the heating-cooling system in the auto mechanics building. “What is in good working order will be harvested.”

The contractors will go through the buildings when college officials are done, removing other material that can be reused or sold for scrap, she said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.