PORT ANGELES — Big projects are cooking at Peninsula College.
College President Thomas Keegan updated the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce on three multimillion-dollar campus building projects likely to be funded this year by the state Legislature.
Keegan also went over the status of pending legislation that could allow Peninsula College to one day offer four-year degrees to students.
He began his talk at the membership meeting at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant, however, by explaining how three construction projects will give a boost to students and staff in terms of learning and research opportunities.
The three projects are:
* A new science and technology building
* A major expansion to the college library
* Construction of a “longhouse” cultural center and classroom space
High on priority list
The college’s three proposals currently sit high on a priority list of proposed capital projects for two-year colleges statewide — a fact that leads Keegan to feel rather sure that all three will be fully funded when the final state budget comes out July 1, as scheduled.
“I don’t want to jinx it,” Keegan told the chamber audience.
“But if all capital projects [for colleges] are funded anywhere near the level that they have been in the last six years, we should be getting funding for all three projects.”
The planned science and technology building, which will be built on the site of the soon-to-be demolished dormitory, will cost a total of about $22 million.
“This is going to be a state-of-the-art science center,” Keegan said.
The new structure will feature science and technology laboratories — including a fisheries lab — and a 100-seat auditorium.