By Jacob Beltran
For students wondering what’s going on behind the black tarp at the entrance of Brooks City-Base Campus, the welcome center in Room 147 of Brooks Campus is undergoing renovations.
Enrollment Specialist Roger Arredondo said students have been asking about the tarps since construction started.
Before the construction, the welcome center was comprised of a mobile desk, currently moved at the end of the hall at the Brooks Campus entrance, in front of the windows of the courtyard.
“I’m actually looking forward to it,” Arredondo said. “We’re not going to be mobile anymore, and it’ll feel like an actual welcome center.”
Sabrina Perez, Master of Business Administration student, said before construction began, the center looked like it was part of an intermediate school.
“I think once it’s finished it’ll look like a university,” she said. “It’ll be easier for students to meet each other and look at notes before class.”
Leopoldo Cervantez, assistant director of physical plant, who is in charge of the project, said the renovations are to make the center more attractive and social.
“Basically, if you look at that space, there’s not a place for students to gather in a social environment,” he said. “It’s built for soldiers. They didn’t provide that collegial setting.”
For the new center, the walls to Room 147 have been removed and a space will be made for students to sit and interact with one another.
Marshall Lasswell, director of facilities and physical plant, said that knocking down the walls allows people to simply walk through and provides a view of the courtyard as people enter the building.
Counseling graduate Karen Coleman said, “I personally don’t like having to travel to the Main Campus. It would be better if we could get everything like parking permits and student IDs done here.”
Cervantez said renovations cost $55,000 and will be completed in mid-October.
“I would consider it a fairly small project,” he said. “The outcome is going to be well worth it.”
