The COVID-19 pandemic has left the City College campus nearly empty. A parking spot is easy to find while students and staff aren’t. As students are slowly allowed back on campus (provided they are fully vaccinated), they will find several new buildings on the campus: Mohr Hall, Lillard Hall and a Basic Needs Center.
Completed in 2020, the new Mohr Hall is a two-story building that will open for students in the spring 2021 semester and house the astronomy, geology and physics academic programs, while also hosting the occupational therapy assistant program, physical therapy assistant program, and both the registered and licensed vocational nurse programs. The 2021 fall semester allowed career courses that require hands-on training to be in person.
“The labs are much more spacious now,” said James Collins, the dean of the science and allied health division.
Mohr Hall was designed with students’ comfort and interaction as the main focus. Deep overhangs above Mohr’s windows will help to block the sun during the day for the numerous student gathering spaces, according to Dreyfuss + Blackford. The labs are located close to the courtyard to retain the outdoor look for students and faculty.
“It is just a great building; what can I say?” said Collins.
Mohr Hall was originally a single-story building from the 1960s that stood out as a then-modern design amid the rest of City College’s original campus, according to Dreyfuss + Blackford. It has since been demolished to make space for new projects in the area. The new Mohr Hall building is located on the eastern side of the original building’s lot and leaves room for another potential two-story building.
Mohr Hall cost $18.6 million to build and was completed in August 2020, according to Margaret Lednicky, City College’s director of operations.
The new Lillard Hall will be a three-story building that houses the chemistry and biology departments. The new structure will also have more student-oriented spaces to allow better comfort for students on campus.
According to the CEQAnet database, the original Lillard Hall was approximately 28,863 square feet while the new Lillard Hall’s proposal plan is about 31,709 square feet.
Lillard Hall is being developed by HGA Sacramento with a budget of about $37.5 million dollars and an expected completion date of early 2023, according to Lednicky.
The designs of the new Mohr and Lillard buildings came to fruition in 2013 and 2015, respectively, while Collins was an instructor at City College, with the approval of the projects happening years before that.
“The new buildings will represent a solid commitment to the future of our community and the future of education in our community,” Collins said.
The plans don’t stop there. In the future, students can look forward to the Basic Needs Center coming to campus. Located across the street from Hughes Stadium, it will utilize the foundation of a temporary building next to the Child Development Center during construction.
According to Lednicky, the Basic Needs Center will provide students with assorted necessities like housing resources, food (both perishable and nonperishable) and health care (which can apply to students’ children, if applicable).
While the project is only nearing completion of its design phase, Lednicky said that the proposal has already been submitted to the Division of State Architects, where it typically sits for six months.
“The whole process takes a very long time. …” Lednicky said. “I am hoping that we can go to bid towards summer 2022. … It should probably take 9 months to 18 months.”
In its current state, students will be able to purchase items using a points-based rewards system. Students can earn points through general good behavior or other ways and can go to the center to redeem their points.
With the return to campus being just around the corner, students will soon be able to see these buildings for themselves. The spring semester begins on Jan. 15, 2022, and students will need to submit their vaccination information (if applicable) to their eServices account to attend in-person classes.
