College opens new ag center
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
State Center Community College District officials past and present, in front the new Center for Agriculture and Technology, gather around college president, Angel Reyna, as he cuts the official ribbon Thursday.
Measure C grants students further education opportunity
A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday celebrated the opening of the new Center for Agriculture and Technology at Madera Community College Center.
The new ag school is at the college’s sprawling campus of classrooms, laboratories and offices.
The new agriculture facility is the first to be built with funds raised through Measure C, a $485 million facilities bond that will develop new and improved amenities at Fresno City College, Reedley College, Clovis Community College, and Madera and Oakhurst Community College Centers. Funding for a new West Fresno campus and a first responder’s campus in Southeast Fresno is also included in the bond.
The Center for Agriculture and Technology was built next to the Center for Advanced Manufacturing in the northeast corner of the campus. BMY Construction Inc. has completed the construction in time to hold classes during the spring semester. Classes in the building are set to begin later this month.
The Center encompasses 10,000 square feet and will expand the current agriculture and manufacturing programs that are offered at MCCC. It will house general educational classrooms, a plant science lab, faculty offices, and shops for agricultural mechanics, welding, and industrial maintenance.
In addition to the classrooms and lab space, the center will include counseling and embedded tutoring.
Madera Community College Center serves more than 7,000 students and sits on approximately 114 acres of land. It is on schedule to transition from a center to full college status in 2020.
State Center Community College District is the size of Connecticut, serving 1.7 million people in the counties of Fresno, Madera, and portions of Kings and Tulare. It is governed by a seven-member board elected by area.
The board members are President John Leal, Vice President Annalisa Perea, Secretary Magdalena Gomez, and Trustees Richard Caglia, Deborah Ikeda, Bobby Kahn and Eric Payne.
