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The Palo Verde Verde College
District began serving Needles and surrounding area in 1998 when an agreement
was reached to transfer responsibility with the San Bernardino CCD which had
been providing limited classes to the area since 1968. Beginning in the Fall
1998, Palo Verde College began offering classes in the evening at Needles High
School campus. Almost immediately, a search began for a permanent site for the
College, which would allow a full array of classes to be offered, both in the
daytime as well as the evening.
The Claypool Building, the main
reinforced concrete building constructed in 1930, as well as several other
structures and two parking lots, was generously offered as a donation to Palo
Verde College by the Claypool and Company in 2003 after the closing of their
hardware store in May 2002. The Claypool Building is located on 1.26 acres,
including two parking lots. Original due diligence study of this project in 2003
reflected a remodeling cost of about $130/GSF for the renovation as compared
with $200/GSF for new construction.
In June 2005, with a
two-thirds vote, the citizens of Needles and the surrounding area approved a $6
million dollar bond issue for the remodeling of the historic retail Claypool
Building. In addition, in early 2005, Congressman Jerry Lewis secured $496,000
in federal money for the computers and high tech equipment needed to furnish the
Needles Education Center. Following the passage of the bond measure, the
California State Legislature approved $1.6 million for equipment and furniture
for the building. The Claypool
Building project when completed in August 2008, will provide approximately
26,440 square feet of classrooms, computer labs, library space, and
administrative offices on two floors, plus a mezzanine area, all of which made
up the original main concrete building constructed in 1930. The exterior Art
Deco facade will be restored to its 1930's elegance, with its ornamental iron
railings over the display windows, etc.
The main floor of the building will house a library/technical processing area,
computer learning center, audio/video services center, plus a large student
activities and services center, as well as restrooms. The basement will house
two large distance learning labs, two lecture classrooms, a graphic arts lab as
well as two interdisciplinary labs. All of the labs in the basement are "dry"
labs and a passenger elevator as well as a stairway will access the two floors.
On October 3, 2007, GC Builders of Fort Mohave was awarded a $5,794,000 contract
for the renovation project. A "groundbreaking" ceremony held on October 16,2007,
was attended by the citizens of Needles, Claypool family, Needles' City Council
members, the Mayor of Needles, PVC College Trustees, Jerry Lewis and Ed
Gonzales, PVC administrators, and representatives from GC Builders.
With the completion of construction in Fall 2008, the Palo Verde College Needles
Education Center will have the opportunity to truly provide a full array of
classes, day time as well as evening, learning opportunities for decades to come
for the local residents.
Needles, sits on U.S.
Interstate 40 along the Colorado River and is located in the Mohave Valley about
120 miles south of Las Vegas and 100 miles north of the Main campus in Blythe.
Students attend Palo
Verde College in preparation for transfer to a four-year institution, to acquire
entry-level job skills, to increase their vocational competency, or to
participate in a variety of non-credit courses. Classes are conducted at the
Needles Center, through Video conferencing with the Main Campus in Blythe, and
by distance education for those students unable to attend regular classes in
Blythe and Needles.
The Needles Center provides
tutoring and supplemental instruction to students who want to acquire, improve,
review, or maintain academic skills in various subject areas. Assistance many be
individualized or in small groups and is open to all PVC students -from remedial
to advanced classes. At the Needles Center we seek to support the overall
mission of the college by contributing to student success.
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