LABS DEAL IN SIGHT FOR CSU CENTER ENGINEERING DEGREES COULD BE EARNED HERE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - An education partnership is working to bring engineering laboratories to the Lancaster University Center in time for course work in the spring.

The center is a joint effort of Lancaster city government, California State University campuses in Fresno and Bakersfield, Antelope Valley College, private companies and local and federal government agencies, including the Air Force and NASA.

Lancaster city government will finance construction of one lab building, to be augmented with two donated modular buildings from tenants at Edwards Air Force Base. The initial plan for two new prefabricated buildings at the center was scrapped after bids came in nearly double the city's $640,000 estimate.

``This is vital,'' said Les Uhazy, director of Antelope Valley programs for the center, located at Division Street and Avenue I. ``We can't provide the junior and senior course work without the lab opportunities.''

The buildings will be used for mechanical and electrical laboratories and administrative offices. The laboratories will open the door for engineering students to complete four-year degrees locally.

``It's a community effort,'' Uhazy said of the lab push. ``It's a reflection of the desire of the community to have this available for our children.''

After the initial bids came in too high, Lancaster officials immediately put the scaled-back project out for new bids. An acceptable one, $585,000, came in for a mechanical- engineering building of roughly 2,400 square feet, said Steve Dassler, city engineer and assistant public works director.

``The plan is to have the building in place by April,'' Dassler said.

The two modular buildings will add 4,200 square feet to house the electrical-engineering labs and the administrative offices. The buildings are being declared surplus by the Marine Corps and will be transferred to the Air Force, a partner in the university center.

The Lancaster University Center is on the Antelope Valley Fair's former site. The city provided $3.5 million to turn what was Challenger Hall at the old fairgrounds into a 13-classroom college building.

The Fresno university has been offering Antelope Valley courses toward degrees in computer engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Without labs, students have had to go elsewhere to complete work for their engineering degrees.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com