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# SMC Trustees Approve $19 Million Liberal Arts Building to Replace Earthquake-Damaged Structure
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/photo-courtesy-construction-of-smcs-18-96-million-liberal-arts-building-is-expected-to-be-complete-in-2006-santa-monica-college-to-get-new-19m-complex/
- Published: 2003-09-04T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:51:24.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Second phase of construction slated to begin in fall 2004*

*By Daily Press staff*

Santa Monica College, facing a multi-million budget deficit in the coming years, will build a new liberal arts building that is estimated to cost nearly $19 million.

The SMC Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the new complex to replace the current structure that was heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Construction of the $18.96 million project, which will be done in two phases, is expected to begin next spring. Completion of the first phase is expected in fall 2005.

The money used for the building won’t come from SMC’s operating budget, but instead from a variety of sources that reportedly can’t be used to plug the school’s deficit.

Funding for the liberal arts building will come from four sources: City of Santa Monica Earthquake Redevelopment Project funds ($10.2 million), the Federal Emergency Management Agency ($3.08 million), the state ($4.46 million), and Measure U, the 2002 Santa Monica-Malibu bond measure ($1.22 million).

The new 53,000-square-foot complex has been designed as two units — each with three stories and a basement — that will be connected with pedestrian bridges and walkways. To be located just north of parking structure C in a central location, the project — whose contemporary design features the use of Roman brick, painted metal, white concrete and glass — will face onto a campus quad.

The first of the two phases will have nine classrooms and faculty offices and the second will have 13 classrooms, faculty offices, as well as lab and tutoring space. Each classroom will be wired for computer and Internet access. The complex will house the history, social science and psychology departments.

Construction of the second phase is scheduled to begin in fall 2004, with completion in 2006.

The current liberal arts building, constructed in 1952, was heavily damaged in the 1994 quake, and college officials say repairs have not satisfactorily restored the structural and seismic strength of the building. The building will be demolished when the new liberal arts complex is completed.

The project was designed by Renzo Zecchetto Architects of Santa Monica, a renowned architectural firm whose current projects include the Nativity Parish School in Rancho Santa Fe and the Lux Art Museum in Encinitas. The project architect is the Santa Monica office of Gensler, an award-winning international design, architecture and planning company that has done major projects and

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 4, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/090403.pdf?ref=smdp.com)