Faculty elite, prominent EC patrons and news crews were all in attendance March 6 for the Grand Opening Ceremony of the new Math Business Allied Health (MBA) Building, which opened at the beginning of the 2013 spring semester.

The ceremony included catered food, a ribbon cutting, guided building tours, live training demonstrations by nursing students and speeches from the likes of Tom Fallo, college president, and Kenneth Brown, member of the board of trustees.

The fanfare was meant to show the local community what their tax dollars were accomplishing at the college, Brown said.

“Its great to see so many dignitaries out,” he said. “I’m hoping that the students can understand why we go through this type of processional but we kind of want to show off. We can attribute this directly to the funds coming in from our bond measure (2002 Measure E bond) so this is really the public’s building.”

The MBA Building was scheduled to open in fall 2012 but the opening was delayed due to construction problems and legal issues that arose between the college; the general contractor, Taisei Construction; and the design firm, LPA.

The new structure now houses the math sciences division, business division, and the nursing and radiology programs.

The MBA Building is the newest completed structure on campus and includes 58 classrooms, 11 computer labs, 480 computers, Wi-Fi in every classroom and a design that is 25 percent more energy efficient then current California energystandards demand, according to a college press release

The cost of the four-story 115,000-square-foot building, which was funded by the 2002 Measure E bond, was originally budgeted at $21 million but by the time the building opened for the 2013 spring semester, the final cost was slightly more than $34 million.

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