 Media Credit: Honey, Coral Tricky Pick. Student Diane Ascher examines two proposed designs for the academic center at a Feb. 4 discussions session.
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College of Marin's board of trustees voted 7-0 to delay picking an architect for the new academic center, sometimes called the gateway building, after hearing several hours of comments during its Feb. 16 meeting at the Indian Valley Campus. Most of the remarks came from Kentfield residents like Deborah Haberman, who worried the community around campus had been left out of the decision-making process.
"I feel like we've been bypassed," she said. "Whether or not it's intentional I don't know."
After hearing testimony from about a dozen people in a similar vein, and the reactions of the over 40 people seated in the audience, Board President Eva Long addressed the assembly, saying the board and the district suffered from "a credibility problem," and recommending the trustees wait to select until their next meeting to select an architect.
Trustee Barbara Dolan sharpened the criticism. "Your dollars are being used, in this trustee's opinion, to tear apart this campus," she said. "What you're looking at is a failed board."
The statement provoked a reaction from her colleague, Trustee Carole Hayashino. "Each of (the board members), in our way, is trying to do the best for our college, campus and school," she said. "I hope tonight we're not about to redebate our commitment to the new academic center."
Although opposition undoubtedly remains, the board voted 5-2 (Dolan and trustee James Namnanth cast dissenting votes) to fund the academic center with $33.6 million saved from the $249.5 million Bond Measure C. The next step involves choosing one of two architects (ED 2 International or Mark Cavagnero Associates, who have teamed up with TLCD of Santa Rosa) remaining from an original pool of 29, something the board scheduled for the Feb. 16 meeting.
A decision was initially slated for January, but both bidders must now wait until next month as trustees, who appeared not to agree on much throughout the meeting, cast a unanimous vote to table any decision about choosing an architect until their March 16 meeting at the Kentfield campus.
Trustees promised that members of the community, as well as stakeholders on campus, will be invited to provide input on the project and meet with the architects. Dates for those sessions had not been set as of press time.
While the Kentfield residents left the meeting largely placated by the result, not everyone was pleased to see additional delays for the 48,000 square-foot project, designed to replace Olney Hall, Harlan Center, the Administrative Center, the Business Center, and the taqueria on the corner of College Avenue and Sir Francis Drake boulevard.
Bill Scott, who serves as chairman of COM's bond oversight committee, urged the board to choose an architect during the meeting, stating that this step would allow the community to move discussions past conceptual drawings, which will likely be changed considerably during the time it takes to plan the building.
"By delaying (the project), it just puts it past the construction window we have," he said.
Once an architect is selected, college officials estimate it will take a year to finalize plans. They hope that their construction window will stay open long enough for contractors to complete the project by its original target in 2014.
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