Dozens of City College of San Francisco faculty, students, project designers and contractors participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday to christen a new facility for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) courses.
The project broke ground along Frida Kahlo Way in 2022 by the architecture firm Smith Group and construction company Rudolph and Sletten thanks to Proposition A, an $845 million bond passed by voters in 2020 that would go toward updating the college’s buildings, building new facilities and making earthquake safety upgrades.
“Today marks a significant milestone in our journey as a community dedicated to learning, growth and innovation,” Student Chancellor Malinalli Villalobos said. “This building is more than just a structure of bricks and mortar. It is a testament to our collective vision and commitment to creating an environment where students like you can thrive.”
Over, 124,000-square-foot, the $155 million building has four floors with lecture rooms, meeting rooms and study spaces, an art gallery, computer labs, an innovation center, eight art department studios for ceramics, sculpture, still life and figure drawing, nine biology labs, eight chemistry labs and 27 faculty offices.
The building also pays an artistic homage and modern interpretation to the Diego Rivera fresco Pan American Unity mural, which is predicted to return to the campus once the Performing Arts and Education Center is built, by Smith Group’s Designer Jason Campbell. Lined from floor one to floor four on one of the main walls is a vertical barcode-like design that depicts each color and segment from Rivera’s iconic mural.
Jon Foad, president and CEO of Rudolph and Sletten, said the building took 1,426 craftsmen and women and over 100 designers to complete.
“It’s surreal,” Campbell said. “This is one of the first art and science buildings in the country which I think is underplayed a little bit. 2-D art, studio arts and sciences do not typically mix and it’s typically really difficult from an inter-structural point of view so a lot of work went into just trying to think how do we mesh those two worlds and which will obviously produce a way better learning environment so I’m most excited about that.”
The new STEAM building is set to open to all students in January and is among other ongoing projects at the college like the construction of their new student success center.
“I think it’s great,” said Michelle Borjal, a student services specialist for the Evans Center. “I think it’s about time that we had something like this for students. I think it helps students feel like we are focusing on them.”
Anne Marie Kristoff (she/her) is a recent graduate from San Francisco State University's journalism program. She enjoys writing about the arts, entertainment and nature.
