GRANTS PASS — Rogue Community College broke ground April 1, 2021, on construction of a new 17,200-square-foot Redwood Campus Science Center. The $8.5 million facility is set to open to students in fall of 2022.
The Redwood Campus Science Center is the final major project funded by a $20 million bond passed in 2016 by voters within the RCC Service District, which includes both Jackson and Josephine counties. The college used the bond funds to leverage a $6 million matching grant from the State of Oregon, and received additional support from the RCC Foundation and local donors and industry partners.
“Thanks to ORW Architects and Adroit Construction for helping us turn our dreams into great facilities for our students,” said Juliet Long, RCC’s Vice President of Instruction. “And special thanks to the taxpayers of our service area for approving the $20 million bond that is supporting this capital construction project at the Redwood Campus.”
The single-story science center includes two 48-student classrooms, three biology labs and one chemistry/physics lab as well as a student common space and breakout space. The project also includes a fully furnished lab prep area, two large greenhouses, four faculty offices and a large adjunct faculty office. The project includes ADA accessibility parking, concrete pathways and a concrete plaza designed to seamlessly integrate the new facility into the existing campus.
General contractor for the project is Adroit Construction. Architect for the science center and future parking is ORW Architecture. Additional architecture was provided by Marquess and Associates, which handled a project to connect the campus to municipal water, and Arcsine Engineering, which designed a campus electrical upgrade.
Planning for the new science center began in January 2018 with a needs assessment to determine a size for the new building to meet the needs of the science program. The space needs assessment was completed in May 2018. A campus master plan, approved by the college board in February 2020, established the location of the science center over the Upper Wiseman Parking Lot.
Other projects supported by the 2016 bond include a renovated art instruction center on the Redwood Campus, which opened in 2019, as well as a new Health Professions Center, High Tech Center and Fire Science Center in White City.