PANAMA CITY — A smaller building may not be the best for the future, but Gov. Rick Scott doesn’t think the college is efficiently utilizing space at its existing facilities, according to one trustee.
“We’re proud of what we approved today because we listened to them, we responded, we scaled it back,” said David Warriner, who sits on Gulf Coast State College’s Board of Trustees. “Hopefully, we didn’t throw out the baby with the bath water and scale it to their request and for the next 20 years it may not be what we need.”
In an attempt to satisfy the governor and get some funding out this legislative session for a science, technology, engineering and math building, the once four-story STEM building design was shaved down to two-stories.
With fewer classrooms than hoped, the latest design includes larger class spaces and more labs stations per room.
However, after trustee Katie Patronis brought back the news regarding the governor’s take on the college’s utilization of its existing buildings, board members began to weigh the needs of the college during Thursday’s trustee meeting,
“The governor wants to make sure we’re being good stewards of tax payers dollars and that we’re utilizing the space we have now and maximizing the space,” Patronis said. “We know there is a need for more modern labs that are safer.”
Despite the final budget set to give $14 million to the project, the governor line-item vetoed funding for the building during last year’s legislative session.
The cost for the cutting-edge technology building has varied as college officials try to adjust it to fit the governor’s liking in hopes he’ll approve its funding.
Originally it would cost $23 million; the current building design, approved by the board Thursday, costs about $18.8 million.
Rusted pipes, below-standard chemical storage rooms, chalk boards and the lack of an access way for the disabled prove the nearly 60 year old building may have run its course, officials said.
“There will be buildings built this time; this should be at the top of the list,” college president Jim Kerley told the board Thursday. “I stand behind this building and we have the data to back it up.”
Board members discussed the risk of building a building that would be too small for the needs of the growing number of people interested in STEM education.
Still, it boiled down to money.
“Are we going to the Chevrolet or the Lexus,” Patronis said, quoting Chairman Ralph Roberson. “I think it’s an awesome design, but I do know if we’re going to move forward with that scale and size, we’re going to need some private support.”