A recent report released on Mt. San Antonio College’s bond-funded projects refers to 2011 as “one of the busiest construction cycles” in the campus’ history.

Heidi Gallegos, the 2011 chairwoman of the Mt. SAC Citizens’ Oversight Committee, issued the report on the use of the voter-approved Measure R and RR bond funds for projects.  Proposition 39 required the committee to keep the public informed on how bond money is spent.

In 2001, voters passed Measure R, a $221 million bond issuance.  Voters approved the $353 million Measure RR bond in 2008.

In 2011, the college completed construction of the $30.3 million, 41,875-square-foot Agricultural Sciences Building, which opened last spring.  Mt. SAC also did two renovation projects, the $15-million Administration Building and the $4.8 million Kinesiology and Athletics Building, Gallegos said in the report. 

Construction continued on the 62,837-square-foot Design Technology Center, the final Measure R funded project.  The $27 million center is expected to open next spring, Gallegos said.  Also under construction is the $18.5 million, 33,800-square-foot Child Development Center, which is expected to open in 2013.

Mt. SAC President Bill Scroggins said in the report that the college was able to access $65 million of Measure RR’s $353 million by borrowing against the issuance of future bonds.  That money went to start construction of the Child Development Center and to remodel the Administration Building and Athletics Field House.  The funds also will enable the campus to move ahead with planning new projects, including the Student Support Services Building, the Emergency Operations Center, and the Food Service Building, he said.

Officials plan to combine refinancing and buying down principal on existing Measure R bonds in order to issue around $200 million in new bonds in mid-to-late 2013.  Scroggins said the funds would go to pay down debt from borrowing and to start on new self-funded projects.

In the past, California would pass school construction bonds regularly, but that hasn’t happened in the last five years and isn’t likely in the future, he said.

“That means that Measure RR funds will be the only source for new construction, renovation, and infrastructure improvements at Mt. SAC for many years going forward,” he said.

The college also is in the process of finalizing the 2012 Facilities Master Plan, which will identify short-term and long-term priority projects.

“This long-term planning will assure that current construction fits the future needs of the college, its students, and our community,” he said,  “and that we build the infrastructure today that will enable Mt. SAC to be ready when future funds appear to realize our dreams for a bigger and better Mt. SAC for decades to come.”