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Renovations of Liberal Arts buildings complete

With giant scissors in hand, University President Jane Close-Conoley cut the ribbon in the courtyard of the newly renovated Liberal Arts buildings on Thursday, officially re-opening them to the campus.

The recently completed construction marks the first major renovation to the LA buildings since they were built in the 1950s. The departments of journalism, human development and international studies moved into the upgraded buildings during winter break, which came to an end on Tuesday.

“It’s such a culmination for people who worked all these years to upgrade these buildings when there’s no state money,” Conoley said. “And they figured out how to do it.”

CSULB self-funded the $17.4 million project.

“Our desire to work on this coincided with the worst state budget situation in the history of higher education in California,” Executive Vice President David Dowell said during his speech at the ceremony. “I am really glad we were able to do what I think is the right thing for students.”

Dowell also said in his speech that the new buildings are equipped with 19 “smart” classrooms that come with projectors, desks with wheels for utilizing group work and floor-to-ceiling white boards on some walls.

“It’s wonderful to reuse these existing buildings and see them gain a new life so they’ll be here for another fifty years,” said Mark Zakhour, the manager of construction services.

Zakhour said planning for the upgraded buildings began in 2011 and construction started in February 2014. The new 28,000 square-foot space is earthquake safe. The new buildings resolved the seismic issues of the original structures.

“We’ve moved out of some of the worst possible structural environments into some of the best on campus,” said David Wallace, the dean of language arts. “It’s a transformation in terms of the college’s ability to provide first rate facilities for teaching our students.”

Construction manager Lisa Salgado said the new courtyards could make students want to stay on campus. The outdated look of the old LA buildings is replaced by a sleek, modern design with large windows looking out to courtyards and café-style tables and benches on fresh lawns.

“One of the things I think we are getting much smarter about is we developed the outside spaces along with the inside spaces when we do these projects,” Dowell said. “All of the research shows that congregation spaces for students really make a difference.”

Conoley said this was the first of many future renovations to the campus.

“Stay tuned because there’s going to be a number of other improvements,” Conoley said. “It’s all aimed at improving the student and faculty experience here so that they feel the value we have for their learning and their work here.”

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