Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Photography students’ last opportunity to capture construction in action at Southeast

Photos and story by Christine Egan

December 11, 2013
Written by Christine Egan

This winter term will be the last opportunity to register for PCC’s class – Building Stories: Photographing PCC Construction Sites – as Walsh Construction and InLine Commercial Construction Inc. crews finish up the Student Commons along SE 82nd Avenue and the new Library fronting SE Division Street.  The Student Commons is scheduled to open its doors to students and the public on December 30; the Library is scheduled to open two months later in late March and will be open to PCC students and the public seven days a week.

Students enrolled in the class this winter term will have the opportunity to photograph crews building the interiors of Southeast Center’s new library and laying the final walkways and plantings for the campus plaza. On the west side of campus, students can capture the ongoing renovations of the historic 1911 German American Society building as it is transformed into the new campus administration building.

Since the start of construction in October 2012, the PCC Bond Program, Community Education and Walsh Construction have worked together to provide an in-the-field opportunity for aspiring photographers to capture a construction site in action. Since fall 2012, students enrolled in this Community Education course have documented through digital photography Southeast’s transformation from a two-building center into a future campus. When construction is completed, the Southeast Center will have a total of six buildings covering 18 acres in the heart of Southeast Portland. The expansion will provide expanded academic programming, a new and larger campus bookstore, a new library, a new childcare center, administration building, expanded cafe and servery, a Women’s Resource Center, a Multicultural Center, general and career technical education classrooms and science labs.

By the end of spring, both the Student Commons and the Library will be bustling with student activity. O’Neill Construction crews will continue renovating the historic German American Society building to house PCC Community Education and administration office. Construction is scheduled to be completed in June.  Planning and programming has started for a new campus childcare center on the northeast corner of SE 77th Avenue and SE Division Street.

To register for the Building Stories photography class, use CRN code 16269. Classes will begin January 14 and run through March 18, on Tuesdays, 10 – 11:50 am. PCC and Walsh Construction will provide a safety and site orientation tour for students so they can have open access to the construction site during hours of operation. Class is taught by instructor Ellen Regal.

PCC’s 2008 voter-approved $374 million bond program is increasing opportunities for residents to access quality, affordable higher education close to where they live and work. Additional classrooms, updated equipment and technology, and advanced workforce training programs are helping to pave the way for future employment options. For more information, visit www.pcc.edu/about/bond/about.