With Modesto Junior College’s Founders Hall closed through August 2011 for a long overdue renovation project, construction is wrapping up on an interim classroom facility known as “Pirates’ Village.”
Pirates’ Village, located in Parking Lot 108 on the East Campus, is comprised of 39 modular buildings, each packed with the same technology previously offered in Founders’ smart classrooms.
The village will accommodate 75 percent of the former Founders Hall classes, while the remaining will move to the Mary Stuart Rogers Student Learning Center on the West Campus. Faculty whose offices were in Founders Hall will move to offices spread throughout the MJC campus.
The construction will also shift some division offices, including those for Business, Behavioral, and Social Sciences and Literature and Language Arts, which will move to the Journalism Building. The Journalism Program will move to the Art Building through Fall 2011.
Even after Founders Hall reopens, Pirates’ Village will remain in use. Until 2014, the facility will serve as the home of Administration of Justice, Anthropology, and Geography courses, while a second renovation – shifting the Science Building into the High Tech Center – is completed.
The construction may be confusing for students, but MJC will install maps and directional signage throughout the village to assist in wayfinding. An informational booth will also be on site for the first week of classes.
The entire work schedule was devised to affect students as little as possible, taking into account restroom and parking locations, lighting and security. The Writing Center, Math Drop-in Center, STAR Lab, PLACE Lab, and all Founders Hall computer labs will be relocated to Pirates’ Village during construction.
Once the $12 million renovation of Founders Hall is completed next year, the building will include larger offices and classrooms, reconfigured computer labs and learning centers, an additional elevator, new flooring, wall, and ceiling finishes, improved ventilation and lighting, and expanded restrooms with ADA accessibility.
