Fresno City College and State Center Community College District office getting major changes

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- When it comes to Fresno City College's science building, there is just not enough space.

Classrooms are full, and the storage area is overflowing with equipment.

Thanks to bond measure C and E the college can now upgrade.

"They are going to have state of the art chemistry biology and physics labs," said Dr. Paul Parnell, State Community College District.

That new science building will be constructed at the entrance of the college, off Blackstone and Weldon. The current plan is to build a three-story building with parking on the lower level.

"It will bring a great, prominent entrance to City College," said Christine Miktarian, Vice Chancellor.

The old science building will be preserved. Some of the classrooms will be used for different purposes, and the staff is also planning on expanding their museum.

"It's really, really, really amazing and I think in a better space it would just be showcased in a beautiful way," said Miktarian.

The State Center Community College District is also moving their central office. Currently, district staff works out of offices located on the Fresno City College campus, but soon they will move into a much larger space the in historic Guarantee Savings Building on Downtown Fresno's Fulton Street.

"Probably 90% of the people are really excited about this move. They are going to have more space, and we are all going to be together in one building to provide the services to all of the colleges," said Parnell.

The move will free up to 150 parking spaces at Fresno City College.

Students will also have the option to park downtown and get shuttled onto campus.

Parnell says all of these projects will provide more parking and are a better alternative to building an expensive structure.

"By spending this 10 million dollars downtown, we can help the parking out, we can have a space for the science building, and we can save that money and put it back into the science building."

The move into downtown is expected to happen as early as late fall, meanwhile, the science building plan will be submitted in November.