By A’ishah Crawford
CI is embarking on a $68 million project that will provide accessible student services as well as a comprehensive entryway onto campus. CI was founded only 19 years ago, making it the youngest CSU, with plenty of room to grow. Toward this long-term goal of growth, CI is undertaking an expansion of the campus. In 2017, this expansion was formalized as the Gateway Hall Project, an estimated $68 million construction project and a student-centered solution to multiple needs on campus.
Backed by student demand, this project is beginning to move forward again in the wake of complications related to COVID-19 shutdowns. Included in the project is the demolition of original structures from the Camarillo State Hospital, which will make space to create new buildings meant to serve as a front door at the north entrance to campus.
This expansion is intended to bring more student life and activity to the north end of the campus, forming a central community hub for the University. The project’s timeline has not yet been finalized, but The CI View will continue to provide updates as they become available.
The Gateway Hall Project Draft Report, published in 2017, outlines the allocation of new spaces for multiple departments on campus. According to Provost Mitch Avila, this will include “student-facing services” that currently reside in Sage Hall, a building which “is not (a) very functional place to go…interact and do business.” Avila continued, “We will also be updating classrooms, building additional labs and creating new faculty offices.
The next aim of the project includes the construction of a welcome center, an instructional space, a 200-person auditorium and administrative space. According to the Project Draft Report, these changes will engage student life and “facilitate an integrated, team-based delivery of services to students, staff and faculty.”
An important goal for Gateway Hall is to create an active and inviting atmosphere for all students, staff and faculty, as well as for the wider community through public outreach. Avila explained the intention that Gateway Hall should provide new students and community members with “a natural (first) place (to go) when you come into campus.”
Avila stated that as planning moves forward, “we are hoping to embody the values of the campus and represent our diversity. It is going to be future oriented and will serve us well.” The CI community can anticipate an iconic new campus center in years to come.
This story will be updated as further information becomes available.
