PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College is getting a face lift worth more than $36 million.
The community college — which has branches in Port Townsend and Forks — is getting three new buildings that maximize the scenic beauty of its Port Angeles campus on Lauridsen Boulevard.
Plans for the three buildings are in full swing, and talk of a fourth building is in the works.
Many of the college’s 40-year-old buildings have a nice exterior, but the insides of them are in need of major help, college President Thomas Keegan said.
Many of the classrooms are cramped for space because they weren’t built to accommodate today’s technology.
Adding just a few computers to one classroom creates a major space crunch, college Vice President Barbara Martin said.
The college broke ground on a new $22 million science and technology building this fall.
The 55,000-square-foot building will sit on the southwest corner of campus, the former location of the student dormitories torn down in October.
The building is state of the art both in design and function.
It will house the college’s fisheries and information technology programs currently located in two separate structures.
New library
The college also has finalized plans for a 35,000-square-foot library and administrative building.
The college’s current library and administrative offices will be demolished at the end of the summer.
The new building will cost about $14 million, and open up the northern view of the campus looking onto the Strait of Juan de Fuca.