California may be writhing in recession-related pain, but East Los Angeles College crossed one more construction project off its $700-million list on Friday, opening an 1,800-space, multilevel parking garage to serve students on the community college’s crowded 82-acre campus. A new technology center has already opened, and a performing-arts center is under construction, along with a student-services building that will mark the main campus entrance with a bell tower.
In addition, the library and the nursing building are getting overhauls, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports. The work, all part of a master plan for the campus, is being paid for by a series of bond measures that have been approved by voters in the Los Angeles Community College District — bonds with a total value of $5.7-billion. The sprawling, nine-college district serves 130,000 students, and the East Los Angeles campus is the system’s largest, with 21,000 students.
Meanwhile, Waubonsee Community College will break ground this Friday for a new 33,000-square-foot campus in Plano, Ill. The building, which will have 15 classrooms and a variety of other facilities, was designed by the Chicago architecture firm Holabird & Root.

Holabird & Root designed Waubonsee Community College’s new Plano building. (Waubonsee Community College image)

