This content was published: January 8, 2015. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Cascade Campus celebrates new academic buildings with public open house
Photos and story by James Hill
Portland Community College is hosting an open house to celebrate its two newest buildings at the Cascade Campus (705 N. Killingsworth St.).
“New Beginnings” runs from 2-6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20 and includes tours of both the new Student Union and Cascade Hall at PCC Cascade. The program – to take place in the student lounge on second floor of the Student Union – begins at 4:30 p.m. and will include comments from College President Jeremy Brown, Cascade President Karin Edwards, students, faculty, the PCC Board of Directors and local legislators. Food, music, and a light show will be offered, as well. The open house is free and open to the public.
Both buildings are part of the college’s 2008 voter-approved $374 million bond program with $58 million going to the construction and improvements at Cascade.
The Buildings:
Cascade Hall – This is the new academic building, which opened last fall. The 49,000-square-foot facility features faculty workspace and 14 general-purpose classrooms. The Center for Careers in Education and the Portland Teachers Program are housed there, as well as the new childcare center. PCC received an $8 million matching grant from Oregon’s Community Colleges Workforce Development Department for this building.
Student Union – The 36,000-square-foot building replaces the outdated, 1970s-era Student Center. Amenities include food service and dining areas, student clubs and government offices, a study/lounge area, flexible meeting space, Women’s Resource Center, Multicultural Center and the International Education Program offices.
The area between the two new buildings is a landscaped plaza that will be part of an east-west “mall” running through the entire campus once construction is complete. Below the plaza and the two buildings is an underground parking garage that opened this past September. The 211-space garage is the first of its kind to be built on any PCC campus. Its design was part of the college’s commitment to the neighbors and the City of Portland to reduce the number of college-related vehicles parking on local streets.
will there be shuttles to the new Tech jobs;fiber optics,hvac,nec training,etc.,@the PCC center down on Swan Island industrial area?!,…money’s tight enough for all of us students&to ask us to pay bus fares to courses/classes that were free on PCCCAS campus seems a bit much(sfter all the charter’s ‘to be in service to students&community’…