At our April meeting, the Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees approved nearly $85 million in contracts for the demolition and reconstruction of the Physical Education (PE) Building. This momentous action means that the college is making good on its commitment to respond to years of study and community input to replace the failing and structurally deficient building. The need for replacing the facility has been well-documented, and its approval means that students, faculty, and staff — and the greater community — will benefit from a state-of-the-art, safe, and energy-efficient facility.
The replacement building will be funded with the help of Measure P, which was passed by 66 percent of the voters in November with commitments to fund maintenance and capital projects like the PE Building. While the timing of this project as the first use of Measure P funds does not mean that this was the district’s number one priority for the bond, moving forward on this project required immediate action — a grant of $34 million in state funds must be encumbered by June or lost. Our failure to advance the project at this stage would have meant the forfeiture of state funding and, consequentially, the decreased chances of receiving any more state grants any time soon. Letting that happen would have been a very costly mistake. (Meanwhile, the board will soon be discussing other priorities for using Measure P funds, such as repaving parking lots and other needed maintenance.)
Another high priority for the district is the replacement of the Physical Sciences Building, which is critical for our STEM-related programs (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Like the PE Building, this classroom building was also identified to utilize Measure P funds and would be more costly to repair than to replace. Without moving forward on the PE building, we would have jeopardized the potential for state funding for this important project. Both of these high-priority projects are to replace existing aging facilities, not to expand the footprint of the college.
Besides the potential loss of state funding, there are other good reasons why we approved this project now. First, the condition of the existing facility is failing and becoming potentially unsafe. We know that the building has asbestos, lead pipes, and seismic issues that need to be corrected. These issues obviously need to be addressed sooner or later.
Second, the facility supports the campus’s role as a resiliency hub in the community, providing a space for emergencies like we saw during the Thomas Fire and subsequent debris flow, housing the Red Cross shelter and Montecito Union School. The new PE Building will provide a needed community resource during the next natural disaster, helping to ensure that our region is well-equipped to deal with whatever disaster we may face. The building will also be able to serve as a gathering space for large community events or even a venue for a convention center to attract large-scale community events, thereby contributing to our local economy.
And finally, the replacement building will provide an upgraded facility that will meet the needs of our Athletics program for years to come. Not only will the sports pavilion serve our hundreds of athletes who are full-time students, but it will also be a resource to community members and high school students who regularly utilize our facilities.
One point of opposition to approving the construction contracts was that the grant of state funds through the Chancellor’s Office was expected to pay for 75 percent of a building which in 2020 was estimated to cost $46 million. If this building had been approved at that time, it would have been completed years ago at, presumably, a much lower cost than today. Nonetheless, $34 million is nothing to sneeze at, although it is, admittedly, a drastically lower portion of the current $105 million budget. Unfortunately, the PE Building was not prioritized at the time and stalled; meanwhile, the condition of the building continued to deteriorate and construction costs skyrocketed.
The board also considered the risks involved with initiating a construction project in this current state of economic uncertainty. Will tariffs on steel or other materials cause our costs to rise? We really don’t know. Nobody knows. But after weighing the need for the replacement and the potential benefits of a new facility against the consequences of not acting, the board majority felt that it was necessary to proceed due to the importance of the project.
This significant decision demonstrates a response of the Board of Trustees to years of discussion and deliberation that will positively impact the college, its students, and the community for many decades.
Kyle Richards is vice president of the SBCC Board of Trustees.
