Organized Labor

New Facilities Will Serve Needs for Chinese Immigrant Community

By Paul Burton
Contributing Writer

Construction of the new City College Chinatown campus began last month with the start of excavation of the site at the northeast corner of Kearny and Washington, where a 14-story, 215-foot tower will be built. The 14-story building will include classroom space, laboratories for science and computers, a library/learning resource center, conference rooms, faculty work areas and admissions, counseling, and financial aid offices. A separate four-story building on Washington will be home to a new culinary program as well as an auditorium for community events.

An official ceremonial groundbreaking took place at the site last November 1 – about one year after the CCSF Board of Trustees approved the Environmental Impact Report and design for the campus tower. The vote exempted the tower from city zoning laws, which call for a maximum height of 65 feet in the Chinatown neighborhood. The project had been held up due to some neighborhood opposition to the tower’s height, as well as from the operators of the nearby Hilton Hotel because the new tower would obstruct views from the facility.

Last October, Judge Paul Alvarado denied an injunction to block construction of the building sought by the hotel operators, Montgomery-Washington. A separate lawsuit by Neighbors for Preservation, Land Use and Community Education (PLACE) challenged the college’s environmental review of the project. The College announced in early December that a settlement had been reached with the two plaintiffs and construction would go forward.

“This building was necessary to house programs currently offered at over half a dozen temporary sites in Chinatown/North Beach,” said Lawrence Wong, Board of Trustees president in a press release after the settlement. “We have resolved the CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] lawsuit without compromising in any way on the size of the campus or the character of the academic programs it will offer.”

The settlement terms include dismissal of the entire lawsuit, an agreement not to renew litigation, and an agreement that City College will not claim any liability in exchange for a payment to PLACE of $75,000 in fees and costs. The lawsuit by Montgomery-Washington that had alleged the campus’ design was not suitable with other buildings in the Jackson Square historic district was also dismissed.

“The trustees are very proud of this design and believe the campus will lend architectural distinction to the area and enrich the lives of all the residents of the Chinatown/North Beach community. We were not going to compromise on design and we did not have to,” Wong said.

A diverse coalition of Chinatown neighborhood groups, students and faculty at CCSF and San Francisco State University, as well as labor, advocated for a new campus – to make its facilities more modern in order to accommodate the needs of the mostly Chinese immigrant community it serves.

According to CCSF, 89 percent of the Chinatown campus students are Asian/Pacific Islander, with 70 percent over the age of 40. A large percentage are immigrants and individuals with limited English proficiency. The college offers an opportunity for students, including many who also work full-time jobs, to acquire English language skills, become U.S. citizens, enter the workforce, upgrade job skills, pursue new careers, or transfer to other colleges and universities.

Vincent Pan, executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, which pushed for the new campus, said, “This permanent campus for Chinatown was very much needed. It will serve 6,000 mostly immigrant and low-income students every year.”

The City College of San Francisco has been offering classes in the Chinatown and North Beach neighborhoods since the early 1970s, using over 30 sites scattered around those neighborhoods to hold classes. The new campus will consolidate classes into the two new buildings.

Having educational programs spread out in leased spaces posed problems for City College because state funds can’t be used to renovate deteriorating leased facilities, computer and technology training labs can’t be housed in joint-use facilities, and the facilities are inadequate for providing student support services such as a library, learning labs, and career, financial aid and personal counseling. Many of the facilities do not meet structural or seismic codes.

At the November groundbreaking ceremony Wong said, “This is a culmination of 30 years. We have fought so hard for this campus against powerful interest groups, and this new campus will be a beacon for those hoping to have a better life through education.”

“This is a very proud moment for all of us and is really a tribute to all the community supporters who have stood behind this project,” Community College Board member Rodel Rodis added at the groundbreaking.

Originally, the project was projected to cost $122 million, with $48 million covered by state funding and the remainder coming from three bond measures passed in 1997, 2001 and 2005. Costs now are estimated to be about $137 million. The project is covered under a Project Labor Agreement with City College and the Building Trades. The development is part of the City College of San Francisco’s 2005 District Wide Capital Improvements Plan, which originally called for the proposed tower to be completed by 2008 or 2009; construction is now expected to be completed by mid-2011.

General Contractor Bovis Lend Lease is managing the project as well as construction of a new facility at CCSF’s Ocean Ave. campus to be jointly used by CCSF and San Francisco State University students. Casey Curren, Assistant Project Manager for Bovis at the Chinatown site, said there were currently about 10 to 15 construction workers on the all-union job each day from the Operating Engineers and Laborers unions. He said all the subcontractors were also union companies. Excavation is being done in two stages, he said, down to the levels of the foundations of the buildings nearby. Curren said that at its peak there will be between 150 and 200 trades men and women on the project.

According to Bovis, the project will be LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified at a Gold rating, using sustainable building practices and an energy-efficient design. Subcontractors for the project so far include union contractors Tucker Engineering and Cupertino Electric. Avar Construction is doing the tiebacks. A Bovis representative said that there would also be many jobs created off site in the fabrication of materials. Architectural Glass and Aluminum, a union shop based in Alameda, will supply the glazing systems.

CCSF Vice Chancellor for Facilities Jim Blomquist said that bidding on future work on the project was going out for other subcontractors. Blomquist said that work on the footings for the concrete buildings would begin in July. The Chinatown campus buildings will be completed in two years. “We are delighted and proud to finally get started and build the new campus after a long struggle,” Blomquist said. “It will be a state-of-the-art facility that will serve over 6,000 students.