Organized Labor

$7.3 Million Project Slated for 2010 Completion

The first phase of construction of a new joint use facility at the site of the Balboa Reservoir at City College of San Francisco's Ocean Campus is underway. The old reservoir that is now a parking lot across the street from the campus will be the site of a multi-purpose building that will be jointly used by City College (CCSF) and San Francisco State University students. CCSF Facilities Management Coordinator Margaret Lam said that students would be able to take classes at the CCSF site for state university credit. "It's like a transfer system for lower to upper level credit," she said. The facility will include classrooms and administrative offices, and eventually a performing arts center, visual arts center, child care facilities, and an advanced technology center.

The Balboa Reservoir development site work includes installation of a ground loop geothermal system using of geothermal bores and collection piping to provide cooling and heating for new facilities, rough grading and engineering fill to provide pads for the construction of the Joint Use facility and an area west of the Joint use facility, abatement and demolition of the old north and south gymnasium and dance studio located on the east end of Ocean Campus, and construction of two parking lots to replace parking at the reservoir site. The estimated construction budget is $7,300,000.

Construction of the 112,000 square foot development is being managed by Bovis Lend Lease, Inc., and scheduled to be completed in 2010. The site work and landscaping project underway includes bringing in approximately 280,000 cubic yards of fill and the installation of a geothermal grid under the fill material, which will heat and cool the buildings. CCSF Vice Chancellor for Facilities Jim Blomquist said that a big part of the job was the drilling of 400 geothermal wells. The work is being done by ProVen Management, which is also the contractor for the trenching, horizontal piping, and backfill. ProVen's clients include the California Department of Transportation, Contra Costa Water District, East Bay Municipal Utility District, the City of San Francisco, and the City of San Jose.

Blomquist explained that the new buildings would be heated and cooled by a heat pump system, using underground air to cool water pumped down and back up above ground. The wells will have 6-inch pipes drilled down 400 feet. A water pipe goes down and back up and is connected to a central system that heats or cools the building, he said. With air temperatures below ground at about 55 degrees, the cooled water brought up via the pipes will more efficiently cool the buildings on hot days than conventional air conditioning. "It uses much less energy and is more fuel efficient," he said.

According to Bovis, all components of the project will be LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified at a Silver rating or better. The company also manages construction of One Rincon Hill, the 61-story residential tower at the foot of the Bay Bridge.

Charlie Lavery, San Francisco Business Rep for Operating Engineers Local 3, said there were about five Operators on the job site, grading and moving dirt and running a large drilling machine. The work is being done under the Project Labor Agreement with the building trades approved by the Community College Board of Trustees for work done under the $243.6 million 2005 bond measure. Lavery said the PLA was working well, with two contractors who are signatories to union agreements and one that is not. The PLA mandates that all contractors comply "with the established prevailing wages and benefits and working conditions of the craft workers employed on the Project."

Ghilotti Brothers, Inc. (GBI), is the contractor for the two new parking lots that will be built. Blomquist said that there are no plans for any underground parking, but existing parking lots that currently hold 2,244 parking spaces will be replaced. GBI became a union signatory in 1954. It employs members of the Northern California District Council of Laborers, Operating Engineers Local No. 3, District Council of Plasterers and Cement Masons of Northern California, Teamsters' Northern California Committee, and Northern California Carpenters' Regional Council. According to the company's mission statement, "These affiliations are important and are vital to our company's well-being and success. Working with the unions provides good working relationships for our employees and guarantees them a competitive salary in today's market and provides union members with the opportunity for a comprehensive health and welfare benefits package."

Future work includes the construction of a classroom building and an advanced technical laboratory/classroom building. Bids recently went out for subcontractors for the building, which will be cast-in-place reinforced concrete, with a structural steel deck, metal stairs, sprayed-on fireproofing, elevators, fire sprinklers and plumbing. HVAC, electrical and fire alarm work needed. Blomquist said that subcontractors would be chosen later in November, with groundbreaking in December for the Joint Use Facility. He said the first steel will arrive in February and the first classrooms will open in June 2010.

Increased enrollment at CCSF as well as the age of existing facilities led the college to propose expanding to the Balboa reservoir site. "There is pressure on the Community Colleges as the UC system cuts down the number of students it can accept due to budget problems." Blomquist said. "We don't turn anyone away."