Glendale College Opens Key Classroom Addition

Classes are scheduled to begin Monday in the $4.1-million San Rafael building, the first major addition to the Glendale College campus since 1975.

Workers swarmed around the building before Wednesday’s dedication, laying carpet and brick, installing desks, painting and washing windows.

The three-story building, designed by Spencer & Aroyan of Pasadena, blends modern, angular wall surfaces with the Mediterranean motifs of red tile roof and ornamental tile balustrades found in the older campus buildings.

Although the final details will not yet be complete, the first classrooms will go into service Monday, said C. H. Wolfe, college director of facilities.

Ninety percent of the project was financed through state community college funds, Wolfe said. Besides the 10% paid by the college, $40,000 was raised privately to pay for a parkway area outside the building, Wolfe said.

When complete, the building will contain a 150-seat lecture hall and theater, five classrooms, a student computer center, 29 faculty offices and administrative services.

Many services now scattered around the campus in temporary trailers will be consolidated in the new building. Those include a health center, a counseling center, a financial aid office and a disabled student center.

The trailers will remain on campus to absorb other functions through a multi-year campus development program that began with the San Rafael building, according to Wolfe.

The program will continue with the renovation of the administration building, the theater, the library, and the technical education and aviation arts buildings.