Southwest Colorado Community College will receive about $1.2 million from the state for three projects, two of which will be completed in a few weeks.
Facilities Coordinator Bobby Sitton said the first project involves the concrete slab in the industrial building that has begun to give way and break apart.
The original work was done in the 1980s, and once the concrete slab started to fail, the college looked into a maintenance project to bring the walkway leading up to the entrance of the building, as well as the floor of the building, into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The cost to replace just the floor would have been $57,000 and this is what SCCC initially planned to do, but the state architect thought more than the floor should be replaced.
Included in this $200,000 project was replacing the heating and cooling units of the building. Sitton explained the old unit was what would typically be used for a house, not a large building.
Sitton said the flooring will be going in this week and he believes the building will be able to go through its punch list to make sure everything is done correctly in about two weeks.
The second project at the college involves replacing all water lines, installing isolation valves in all buildings, and replacing the wastewater system at a cost of $250,000.
Isolation valves will allow the college to shut down water in the building while work is done to repair the problem and allow the rest of the campus and other buildings to still have access to water.
The plan is to drain the old lagoon into a nearby waste basin and turn the leftover sludge in the lagoon into Grade A compost.
Sitton said the project should be finished in about three weeks.
He said all of the water lines have been replaced and installed in the buildings.
The third project that has yet to start is part of the Long Bill that Gov. John Hickenlooper signed.
Sitton said the college will use the $700,000 that will be available July 1 to replace and equip all the buildings with a fire alarm notification system.
The system the college currently uses is basically an alarm warning residents to leave the building during an emergency, but it is not connected to emergency response teams.
He said replacing and upgrading the operating system will bring the college into compliance with state codes. If the final plans are approved and the projected cost is within the budget amount, bids will be solicited. Once begun, the construction phase of the project would take between four to six months.
Sitton said all the corridors, hallways, ceilings and doors will also be upgraded to the state code.
Its a very positive thing for us, Sitton said, It gives confidence to the community that we are safe.
The state, he said, would have never given SCCC this funding for these projects if the facility was being considered for closure.
We have a lot going on, so they have a vested interest in us, he said.
Reach Michael Maresh at michaelm@cortezjournal.com
