Bomel Construction: Santa Clarita Community College District: Measure E’s first new building will be a 1,556-stall parking garage at fast-growing College of the Canyons
Bomel Construction: Santa Clarita Community College District: Measure E’s first new building will be a 1,556-stall parking garage at fast-growing College of the Canyons
VALENCIA, Calif., April 16, 2018––The first major project to sprout from a Santa Clarita Community College District bond measure approved by Santa Clarita Valley voters in 2016 will be a three-level parking structure that will better accommodate a surging student population.
At the College of the Canyons’ Valencia campus, Measure E, a $230 million bond, will also help modernize 350,000 square feet of existing buildings, many of which are more than 40 years old. At the Canyon Country campus, college officials hope to build out 80 percent of the school’s modular structures into permanent buildings, allowing the school to provide more classrooms and science labs.
Before the new classroom buildings are erected, a new 1,556-stall parking structure will be completed. Bomel Construction, widely regarded as the dean of design-build parking structures in the West, is set to begin erecting the new garage at the corner of Rockwell Canyon Road and Valencia Boulevard on the Valencia campus. The net gain from the removal of Parking Lot 7 and the addition of the garage is about 1,000 spaces.
Enrollment at College of the Canyons, which surpassed 20,000 in 2017, is expected to reach 30,000 in the next 10 years. About 4,000 students are waitlisted every semester, unable to get English, math, science, transfer and career training classes.
‘Big difference’ maker
Rapid growth has put a prolific pinch on parking at the Valencia campus.
“The first three or four weeks every semester there is a line of cars searching for parking spots on campus, which results in some students being late for classes and staff not finding parking,” said Will Karrat, the college’s project director. “This is definitely much needed. We will gain about 1,000 spaces, so it’s going to make a big difference.”
The parking structure’s design and size is similar to a three-level garage Bomel Construction finished in 2016 at Cal Poly Pomona. A 1,800-stall parking structure was built to conform to the site’s sloping topography and minimize the impact on the campus.
The new parking structure at College of the Canyons will require the excavation of 30,000 cubic yards of soil, but its location will enable the garage to have at-grade entrances on each of the three levels and be minimally invasive to the college’s neighbors.
Low-profile structure
“The site chosen was an easy selection,” Karrat said. “The way the elevation is, on one side of the lot we’re three stories up, but on the other side it meets up with the grade on the existing street. There won’t be this big parking structure sticking out of our parking lot. It will actually look like a level lot from most of the community.”
The 424,102-square-foot garage will cost $22 million to build. It will measure 563 feet by 250 feet by 43 feet, 3 ½-inches tall and include two elevators with glass windows and four staircases.
Bomel will begin a seven-week excavation phase after the surface lot is demolished. The site’s foundation is high in alluvium, a sandy material.
“The report indicates that the soil is dense, has a low liquefaction potential and is on the low range for expansive soil, which are good for construction,” explained Alex Matranga, Bomel’s project manager.
In addition to Matranga, Bomel’s project team includes Bill Godwin, project executive; Richard Martinez, project engineer; and Dan Landini, superintendent.
Great relationship
“One of the main things we’ve liked so far about working with Bomel is the communication,” Karrat said. It’s definitely a seamless flow of communication with the project team.”
The Bomel team’s strong design met all of the college’s expectations, he added. Access to the entire facility by emergency responders was another winning and unique asset of the team’s proposal.
“They were ableto incorporate something that the other firms didn’t really present: a fire lane that will enable a fire truck to drive around the entire perimeter of the parking structure,” Karrat explained.
ABOUT BOMEL CONSTRUCTION: Established in 1970, Irvine, Calif.-based Bomel Construction Co. Inc. is widely regarded as the dean of design-build parking structure construction in the West and one of the largest concrete contractors in the United States. It placed 117th on Engineering News-Record’s ranking of the largest specialty contractors in 2017 in the U.S. In addition to its award-winning parking structure portfolio, Bomel is a one-stop source for all concrete construction needs. The company maintains a highly skilled staff for its structural, architectural and site concrete divisions. Bomel works directly for property owners, developers and general contractors. Its work includes a wide range of projects built at well-known casino-resorts, shopping malls, office buildings, mass transit centers, airports, universities and community colleges.