COLLEGE SEARCHING FOR INTERIM SPACE TO HOLD FALL CLASSES.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER- While trying to find the money to build a permanent Palmdale campus, Antelope Valley College officials will look for other ways to offer classes in the southern valley, beginning this fall.

Options include using high school classrooms and finding a building that could serve as a temporary campus, college officials said. AVC already hosts classes at Palmdale High School, but that program could be expanded to include Littlerock and Vasquez high schools.

``Come fall, we want to offer a good core of classes,'' said AVC President Patricia Sandoval.

One site being eyed as a possible interim campus is the former Rockwell fitness center, which is now part of an aircraft modification complex owned by SR Technics America. The 45,000-square-foot, two-story building has been used for classes in the past, serving as an aerospace training school operated by Antelope Valley College.

One issue the college has to deal with as it looks for temporary space is the Field Act, a section of the state building code that sets seismic safety standards for elementary and high schools and community colleges. The law prevents the college from using a building such as a former supermarket for classroom space.

Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, is pushing legislation that would exempt community colleges from the Field Act, just as four-year colleges are now exempt. Runner's legislation was spurred by a situation in which AVC cannot use a building on its own campus that was erected as a satellite campus for California State University, Bakersfield.

While pursuing the interim options, AVC officials said they have not given up on establishing a permanent 80-acre campus in south Palmdale. That project was dealt a setback last fall when it was learned the Palmdale campus was not included on a state list of projects to be funded through the $9.2 billion Proposition 1A bond measure.

The campus is slated to be part of a master-planned housing development proposed on 540 acres south of Barrel Springs Road between 37th and 47th streets east. Developer David Bushnell, the city of Palmdale, and AVC have been working on the project for several years.

``We're not giving up,'' Sandoval said. ``We've got a lot of time and money invested in this site.''

One of the major issues for the Palmdale campus is the initial investment required to bring in streets, water and sewer lines, and other improvements. Typically, off-site improvements for campuses would cost about $5 million.

The Palmdale campus site is in a relatively remote area so the cost of bringing in improvements is estimated at $10 million, according to Michael Maas, a consultant hired by AVC to work on the Palmdale site.

The state Chancellor's Office wants the college to find other sources of revenue besides state funding to pay for a portion of those improvements, Maas said.

The state Legislature is looking at ways to provide money to help college districts in similar situations in financing initial improvements.

The Palmdale campus is projected to cost more than $40 million. The campus would be able to handle about 3,000 students but would eventually grow to handle 10,000 students - which Antelope Valley College has now.

The ultimate build-out of the campus is projected to cost more than $100 million.