Since 1997 Cerritos College has had a “master plan” to build a new media arts center that is meant to replace the current Fine Arts Building on campus.

The recent estimated cost for this new construction is an estimated $12 to 13 million. A new technological infrastructure will be provided, giving students access to a cutting edge environment.

Robert Riffel, the director of physical plant, is in charge of all the construction on campus and one of the people trying to have this new building constructed on school

He says that the new media arts center will have “a lecture hall, art gallery, computer labs, classrooms, a division office, photography studio, and a visual arts studio for painting, drawing, printmaking and ceramics.”

Riffel added that before they can go forward with the project, the school would need state funded bonds. Citizens vote on these bonds every two years in November, but there is no voting this November due to the economic crisis California is going through.

He explained they also have an initial project. This is where they plan the project years before they proceed to see if the state agrees with the project. Afterward the idea goes to the Final Project Proposal.

Cerritos College is now at the FPP stage. Since 2003, the state agreed to the initial project and in 2004 the school rewrote and updated it.

The update and rewrite was necessary for the school to plan the length of the construction and the amount of classes that will be available in the new building.

A sketch of the building isn’t available yet, but Riffel estimates construction will start in about five years. By then, a lot of buildings will have been built on campus to make the school a more comfortable, clean and well-managed environment.