Delta College plans out future

New master plan under consideration drops proposed Galt campus

Step onto the San Joaquin Delta College campus in 20 years and you may find a very different place.

A college master plan up for possible approval next month envisions hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of improvements, including a new health science building to prepare students for high-demand careers, and a building specifically for career technical education.

The college also proposes to keep its Manteca farm, after talk of selling that property prompted protests from the agricultural community.

And the plan omits a new campus in Galt, which administrators shelved last fall after learning more about its cost and hearing concerns from some college trustees.

Much of what’s proposed in the new plan, written by the San Francisco-based Gensler architectural firm, would depend on voters approving another bond in the coming years. And that’s a tough ask in some areas of the community college district, including Lodi, where voters feel they were promised more from an existing bond approved in 2004.

Lodi reacts

On Thursday, some local leaders said they can’t envision supporting a plan or a bond that doesn’t include a campus in Lodi.

“It would be a disappointment,” said Bill Huyett, a former Lodi Unified School District superintendent who has served as chairman on a local committee that advocates for a Delta College satellite campus in Lodi. “I understand the difficulties they have with doing an extension campus, but this was a commitment a previous board made and I still think it makes sense.”

Without a presence in Lodi, Huyett doesn’t think local residents will support any future bond measures put forth by Delta College.

“I don’t see them getting support from Lodi. I think Lodi is fairly aware of the promise that was made to put an extension program here. I don’t speak for Lodi or the community as a whole, but from my standpoint I would be discouraged and disheartened if they don’t continue efforts to put a campus in Lodi.”

Lodi Mayor Doug Kuehne said he believes money from the 2004 bond was mishandled. Voters approved a $250 million bond for improvements at the main Delta campus in Stockton and expansion to Tracy, Manteca and Lodi.

In 2006, Delta officials purchased Lodi property totaling 168 acres between east Highway 12 and the Mokelumne River for $9,024,597. At that time, the cost for a Lodi campus was estimated at $17 million. A few months later, college officials admitted the $50 million cost to build the Tracy/Mountain House campus had ballooned to more than three times the original amount.

Then in 2007, Delta purchased 140 acres of Galt property at the Highway 99 and Liberty Road junction for $2 million and Galt officials expressed interest in building a satellite campus in their city.

With funds from the bond dwindling, the Delta College Board of Trustees approved president Kathy Hart’s proposal to suspend the Lodi campus project in 2011. In 2012, the board allocated $15 million in Measure L contingency funds to a new north county center. Lodi proposed several sites, but Delta eventually chose the Galt site for a future campus.

“I’m not real thrilled with the way Delta has maneuvered funds from the last bond and I would not support another bond issue,” Kuehne said. “I believe they misappropriated some funds for the Lodi campus.”

Huyett said Delta’s decision to go with the Galt location was ill-advised and a costly mistake.

“They spent over $600,000 to find it’s too expensive to use a flood plain,” said Huyett, adding that he’s been disappointed in the positions that Delta Trustee Richard Vasquez, who represents the Lodi area, has taken on a north county campus. “It appears he works against a Lodi campus. When it changed from Taj Khan to him we lost a voice here in Lodi.”

Vasquez pointed out that his district also includes Elk Grove, Galt and other outlying areas and that his job is to do what’s in the best interests of all of his constituents and in the best interests of Delta College, not just Lodi.

He said he sat on the oversight committee for the last bond and says Lodi was never promised a campus.

“The Lodi committee believes it was entitled but nowhere did it say that Lodi was supposed to get anything,” Vasquez said. “It’s really selfish to say Lodi should receive everything when Lodi doesn’t contribute to the economic values of Delta College. We’re trying to save taxpayers money and establish a center where people can go to college affordably and not worry about transportation and needless costs to go to school.”

Vasquez said no viable Lodi plan has been brought forward to this point. He also said that he no longer supports a Galt campus at the Liberty Road location.

“It’s pretty much a waterland,” Vasquez said. “My plan is to sell and endorse somewhere else. I’m trying to make the best decisions for the district. I’ve been working hard to do what’s best for the college and the residents of San Joaquin County and trying to draw as many people from every area we can.”

That said, here’s a look at what college officials would like to do.

Welcome to Delta

The college’s traditional main entryway from Pacific Avenue would be redesigned to ease congestion, and the child development center — the first building you see driving onto campus today — would be moved to the far west end, a quieter and more secluded location.

The new health sciences building would be constructed between the DeRicco Student Services Building and the college’s new science and math building.

Another new building near the entryway would provide medium-sized lecture halls and space for community meetings and administration (the existing administration building and the large forum lecture halls, which are underused, would be removed). Portions of other existing buildings would be modernized or demolished.

The heart of campus

“It’s very different,” said Matt Wetstein, Delta’s vice president for instruction.

Danner Hall would be redesigned into a “true student center,” with learning labs and places where clubs and student government could meet, Wetstein said. Improvements to the bookstore and food services are also envisioned.

The existing campus quad would become part of a larger corridor of open space stretching most of the way across the interior campus, planted with trees and drought-tolerant plants. An amphitheater would be built at the west end of an expansive lawn, potentially useful for events and maybe even graduation ceremonies.

"That is a nice space that could be used not only by Delta but by the whole community,” Wetstein said.

Around the edges

The new career technical center would be on the south end, offering space for students studying welding, engineering, computers, media and other subjects.

A building for athletics would be added on the west side of campus, bringing locker rooms and training facilities closer to the actual athletic venues.

And on the north side, a new police station would be built, simultaneously providing a home for police training classes.

Mountain House Delta’s satellite campus opened in 2009, but classes are still being held in portables. The plan calls for a two new permanent buildings eventually, along with room for a complex of solar panels, which would help satisfy a state mandate that colleges eventually produce as much energy as they consume.

“There’s a lot of land out there for a pretty substantial solar array,” Wetstein said.

Manteca

Delta will rebuild the aging barn and renovate classroom areas. “We’re going to hold onto that property and reinvest in the farm so that we’re taking care of the agricultural program that’s offered there,” Wetstein said.

Lodi/Galt

While Delta isn’t moving forward with the campus on property it already owns on Liberty Road, it’s not ruling that out for the future.

Officials now say they want to increase demand for classes in the area first, which is a prerequisite to opening a new satellite campus.

Classes will be offered at Estrellita High School this fall.

Wetstein said the master plan as a whole was shaped by months spent consulting with campus groups, including more than 300 students.

He said it’s unclear when the college might decide to approach the public about another bond. There is less than $40 million left of the existing $250 million Measure L bond.

“None of this gets done without state bond support and more importantly a local bond,” Wetstein said. “You’re not going to be able to do this without the voters supporting it.”