A building to admire right behind the CSUDH welcome sign. Photo by Anthony Garza.
By Anthony Garza, Staff Reporter
Although the majority of the campus community has not returned to California State University, Dominguez Hills since last March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the campus had some constant visitors; C.W. Driver, a Southern California based construction company used the empty campus as an opportunity to build the new Innovation and Instruction Building which will be opening this upcoming fall.
After almost two years of construction, that began in October 2019, the four-story, 107,600 ground square feet structure will be one of the three newest additions to the campus infrastructure. It will join the Science and Innovation Building and the new Student Housing building. All three are hoping to welcome the few students returning to campus next semester.
The land that the building will be inhabiting was once occupied by the Small College Complex (SCC), constructed in the early 1970’s. With the former buildings being over 40-years-old, Thomas A. Parham thought it was in need of an upgrade that symbolized the new academic strides of students.
“This building will serve as a beacon where innovative business solutions can be explored, and where best practices, sustainability, and social entrepreneurship are harvested to transform the lives of not only our students, but the larger society,” Parham said at the beam signing held in November 2019.
The projected building, which will be located across from Victoria Street and opposite of Welch Hall, has been led by Roshni Thomas, director of facilities planning, design, and construction at CSUDH.
“It’s an incredible project, it’s really of high quality and it could very well be at any major university in this country.” According to Thomas, it is this quality that will catch the eye of the campus and the surrounding community.
Incorporated inside of the building is a 250-seat auditorium that will serve as a lecture hall. The 150 seats located in the front of the room will also be able to be moved around and will allow students to form collaboration groups. The auditorium will also be used as a banquet hall to hold conferences supported by a commercial kitchen.
There are also study rooms that students can schedule for projects, meetings to work on homework, where T.V. screens and write-on boards will help students visualize their projects.
Some other features of the building include a giant T.V. to show upcoming campus events, murals by selected artists, and a four-story atrium with a skylight on top of it. The building will house students majority from the College of Business Administration and Public Policy (CBAPP), but it’s functionalities will be open to all students interested in utilizing them.
Myron Sheu, the department chair of the information systems and operations management department, one of the departments within the CBAPP believes the building has been well designed because it will offer users a, “synergic environment for innovative teaching and learning and for all stakeholders to mingle.”
The building will also feature gender-neutral restrooms. Thomas believes this is important as it would “show a place where Dominguez Hills is progressive and we are incorporating the philosophy of inclusiveness into the restrooms.” These restrooms would be the first of their kind as they are not single-stalled like the ones existing on campus today.
But this is not the only surprise that would come with the building, in addition there will also be a coffee shop, but not just any coffee shop, a long and awaited Starbucks. “Starbucks has shown interest in taking an area on the ground floor of the building, they are working with food services on an agreement to make it happen,” she said. According to Thomas, ”Starbucks officials came and took a look at the building and they liked it.” The Starbucks grand opening is still impending, and Thomas said she couldn’t assure that it will be ready once the building this fall.
The building promises to be one where students will not just leave when their class is over but instead want to stay and admire the four-story work of art. Although the building is 96% complete, as Parham stated in a recent interview with the Bulletin, it is expected to be finalized in the summer. For more information about the building and to look at the construction phases of the project you can visit the Innovation and instruction building webpage here.
