COM’s Bolinas marine lab plan perseveres

College of Marin life and earth sciences professor Joe Mueller says the college will soon be the only community college in California to have its own marine field station.

That definitely should put COM on the map, a bragging right that will attract students interested in studying marine biology at its source at its own lab in Bolinas.

COM took a big step toward making that a reality; actually advancing plans to revive a longstanding educational asset that’s been shuttered and unavailable since 2006.

In fact, several times, COM leaders have been close to deciding to sell the property, figuring to cash in on the site’s water connection, a valuable commodity in Bolinas.

Mueller, a longtime COM instructor who once led classes in the Bolinas lab, never gave up trying to rescue this local public and educational asset.

When it was open, it was a popular ocean-front classroom where COM professors led classes, including for school-aged children, in building knowledge and an educated appreciation for our marine environment.

COM receiving local and state approvals for its $3.5 million plan to rebuild the facility is a huge step toward bringing back its classes, programs and opportunities to today’s and future generations.

“This rare facility will allow us to continue our efforts to close the equity gap in the sciences for traditionally underrepresented students,” Mueller said.

It has taken Mueller’s longstanding commitment, the enthusiastic and growing support of Bolinas residents, strong backing from Supervisor Dennis Rodoni and a COM leadership willing to change course and accept a different fate for the property to get to this point.

It also took Marin voters support for COM’s capital bond program that has invested millions of dollars into repairing, renovating and rebuilding the college’s campuses.

Instead of cashing in on the property, COM is moving forward with plans to replace the lab with three new buildings, ones that meet modern requirements for public buildings.

For many years, the Bolinas property was a “white elephant” and it appeared that the cards were stacked against it ever being reopened. It was sorely in need of costly and complicated repairs, its location on an earthquake fault was an obstacle to getting state approval and a bluff behind the Wharf Road site was deemed a landslide risk.

Easily, that’s three strikes. Though it looked like it was “game over,” Mueller and Bolinas residents didn’t give up.

In the words of COM Trustee Wanden Treanor, who has seen the varied ebbs and flows of the debate over what to do with the property, the college is on it way of returning the site to academia, to “educate future generations of environmentalists, especially those with a desire to protect and preserve our oceans and marine life.”

The lab will bring prestige to COM, possibly attracting research grants, support from environmental organizations and provide students with hands-on opportunities to learn.