IRVINE : Construction to Transform College

The sounds of bulldozers and construction work are greeting Irvine Valley College students as they return to school this week.

A new gymnasium is now under construction, and work on a main library for the campus is to begin early next year.

The building boom is meant to provide students and instructors with a wider variety of facilities and services. About 9,100 students now attend the 100-acre college, which is designed to one day accommodate 20,000 to 25,000 students, said spokesman George McCrory.

Officials expect enrollment to increase steadily as more residential and commercial development occurs around the Irvine Center Drive campus.

The gym complex is scheduled to open in February, 1994. The 27,000-square-foot building will include a 1,600-seat basketball and volleyball gym as well as a dance studio, offices and classrooms.

The $4-million gym will be named after Edward Hart, who was the founding president of the college.

By 1995, the campus should also have its own two-story library. The 35,000-square-foot building will have the capacity to store 75,000 books--many more volumes than the existing library can handle.

The new library will include an automated catalogue search system and a media center. The project will cost about $6.7 million to build.

Eventually, officials might expand the library and build a swimming complex, performing arts center and maintenance shop.

College officials also hope to open a $2-million child-care center later this month.

The center, to be located at the northern edge of the campus, will care for preschoolers as their parents attend classes.