Portions of campus roads, including Campus Bridge Drive and Lancer Lane, are seeing infrastructure changes as California Baptist University prepares to introduce a new events center in 2017.
The arrival of the fall semester at California Baptist University brings infrastructural changes around campus, including new roadways, new offices and a $73 million events center.
Students may be surprised by the amount of construction taking place throughout the year, but with increased enrollment at CBU comes a need for new and updated infrastructure to accommodate the growth. While some changes are nearly complete, others will take longer, so the CBU community may need to get accustomed to the presence of orange cones for awhile.
“It’s exciting to be at a place where growth is your main issue,” said Dr. Micah Parker, director of athletics at CBU.
One phase of construction began last year at CBU, when a need for additional space for the wrestling team and coaches arose. As a result, The Point apartment building closest to Adams Street was converted into a set of offices to be used by the wrestling coaches, as well as a room for the team to use to review strategies for duels and tournaments. Parker said the move-in process is nearly complete.
“The furniture just got in there,” he said. “We don’t have any audiovisual things or anything on the wall yet.”
Steve Smith, director of facilities and planning services, said the remainder of the space in the building has been assigned to the Gordon and Jill Bourns College of Engineering faculty.
Additional infrastructure changes have been made to portions of Campus Bridge Drive and Lancer Lane in preparation for one of the most prominent changes to come to campus in the future: a $73 million events center to be placed directly behind the Recreation Center, where California Avenue Christian Fellowship used to stand.
The events center will be for internal CBU use, including but not limited to the athletics department, commencement ceremonies and chapel. The center is scheduled to be completed in 2017.
“The reason is a great need here for our students and our community. It’s not just an athletics thing,” Parker said. “We just need that space so we can keep growing.”
More changes to campus include a transition from offices to residence halls in a portion of Lancer Arms, some remodeling at the Adams Business Park, and ongoing cell tower relocations.
“(There is) also an extensive repurpose project at the former Riverside Christian School site with the first phase of our new Health Sciences campus,” Smith said.
Even though the orange cones might be around for a while, CBU students can look forward to new changes and new adventures on campus.
