Construction starts on CCSN's new building

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Community College of Southern Nevada recently broke ground on a $24 million library and classroom building on the West Charleston Campus.

The new 78,000-square-foot, three-story building is slated to open in November 2007. The building will house 27 classrooms, a 24,000-square-foot, two-story library, a 3,000-square-foot lecture hall that will be able to hold about 100 people, a learning center, offices and a coffee shop.

The college, DCC Architects and Clark & Sullivan Construction are incorporating environmental and energy cost-saving features such as maximizing the use of natural daylight, using recycled materials and focusing on energy efficiency.

Matthew Toepper, DCC Architects' project manager, said the college is planning to make the new building the focal point of the campus.

"It is intended to kind of act as a pseudo-library/student center," Toepper said. "The college doesn't have a student center, and the students wanted a place to get together after class to socialize or work together, so the building will serve that purpose as well."

As for the "green" ideas regarding the project, Toepper said the ventilating system in the two-story library was of concern. He noted that generally ventilating systems are in the ceiling, but in the library, which will have 35- to 40-foot ceilings, placing the ventilators in the ceiling would be wasteful.

"We're going to put the duct work at around 10 feet high, rather than 35 to 40 feet high," Toepper said. "This will condition the space at the ground line. It is much more efficient ventilating near the ground line rather than 35 feet in the air where there are no people, and that should save both in the electrical costs and the efficiency."

Helen Clougherty, executive director of public and college relations, said that as the student population grows, the college needs to expand to offer adequate space for the school's 36,635 students.

"We were desperately in need of a new learning center and library," Clougherty said. "Our current library is very, very small, so this addition is greatly in need. And we're all very grateful to the Legislature and the regents for granting this project. We've been having to turn students away because of a lack of space, and this will definitely help."