SEARCHING FOR SPACE VALLEY COLLEGE PLANETARIUM EXPANSION REMAINS ON HOLD AS CONSTRUCTION BOND MONEY DWINDLES AND COSTS INCREASE.

Byline: LISA M. SODDERS Staff Writer

VALLEY GLEN - Twice, Los Angeles Valley College Planetarium Director David Falk has been assured the college would expand its tiny, but popular planetarium and observatory.

But soaring construction costs have gobbled up Proposition A/AA construction bond money set aside for the planetarium -- whose fate has fallen into a black hole.

``You can't expand into the future when you can't even meet today's needs,'' Falk said of the planetarium expansion. ``This is more than a novelty, it's a major teaching tool, a major recruiting tool.

``We don't have the capacity to serve our students or the community. We can't expand our observation lab courses because we're literally out of space -- which is ironic when you consider we talk about space being infinite.''

The planetarium isn't the only project on hold in the nine-college Los Angeles Community College District due to skyrocketing construction costs. But the district's board of trustees has not yet decided to seek a third bond to complete the projects.

District officials, including Chancellor Darroch ``Rocky'' Young, say they're concentrating on making the existing $2.2 billion Proposition A/AA construction bond money stretch as far as it possibly can by completing projects with state and private dollars.

Building costs have risen due to demand for raw materials in China and other competing public-works projects locally, such as Los Angeles Unified school expansions.

``Construction costs are running $450 a square foot and even higher on some of these science buildings,'' said Mitch Vaccari, project director for URS Corp., which is handling Valley's Prop. A/AA projects.

On Valley's $46 million, 100,000-square-foot Allied Health building, which breaks ground next Wednesday: ``You would have gotten that building for $300 a square foot two years ago,'' said Vaccari.

LACCD officials have identified nearly $3 billion in unfunded construction needed to complete the campus master plans, and faculty members are beginning to express concerns that if the district doesn't complete them, the students will suffer.

``This is not ivory tower excess. This is the basics of what it takes to prepare people to go out and work, live and contribute to our society,'' said Pierce College President Robert Garber.

Pierce philosophy professor Betty Odello agreed, noting that having to drastically scale back classroom renovations will leave professors and students with classroom seats that break, windows that won't open and lecterns that literally fall apart.

``We have classroom chalkboards that are so old you can hardly (make out the words),'' Odello said.

``We're not expensive in philosophy. We're chalk-and-talk people, but we need to be able to see the chalk.''

At Valley, not only is the planetarium expansion unfunded, but so are the media arts building, a field house and a computer/technology building.

The current planetarium dome was built in 1966 and is only 24 feet in diameter with seating for 50, Falk said. Upstairs, in the observatory, is a 16-inch ``almost research-quality'' telescope.

The planetarium's new high-tech projector isn't the result of Prop A/AA money, but a three-year, $300,000 grant from NASA.

The $3.4 million addition would have included a new, 40-foot planetarium chamber, and at one point, some additional classroom space. Currently, the only plans are to add an elevator to allow people with disabilities access to the roof, and even that's iffy, Falk said.

Astronomy classes are popular at Valley because in addition to being a transferable science class for the four-year universities, they link multiple disciplines, including chemistry, physics, general science and math, Falk said.

``Even if (students are) not going into a science-related vocation, it's important that they have some basic understanding of how the universe works, that they be science-literate,'' Falk said. ``How are we going to get the next generation of scientists and engineers?''

In addition to hosting 10 sections of astronomy classes, the Valley planetarium is a popular attraction for neighboring elementary schools, and serves as a good introduction to the affordable, accessible world of community colleges, Falk said. But the planetarium can't accommodate both groups at once.

Soraya Dosaj, the librarian at nearby Erwin Street Elementary, said she was disappointed as a taxpayer that the planetarium expansion has been shelved.

``It's such a wonderful benefit to the community,'' Dosaj said.

``A number of our classes were able to walk to the planetarium -- buses are very expensive for field trips -- and some of these kids were just in awe. This was the first time they've really seen stars because there's no night sky to speak of in the Valley and other urban areas'' because of light pollution.

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

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(color) David Falk, planetarium director at Los Angeles Valley College, has been hoping for planetarium improvements, but rising costs have stalled plans.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

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LACCD CONSTRUCTION

Source: Larry Eisenberg, LACCD director for facilities management; Mission, Valley and Pierce officials

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