BC Campus; In with the new, and still with the old

By Julian Caro 

In the last 60 years, a lot has happened; the civil rights movement, the creation of the internet and the smartphone, and foreign and domestic wars; all of which are taught at Bakersfield College, only in buildings that are as old if not older than the events that are found within the history books. 

Bakersfield College Memorial Stadium, reading "Home of the Renegades"

In 60 years of history, the world has changed dramatically, however, Bakersfield College’s (BC) main buildings have not. One of the oldest community colleges in the country (opened in 1913) with its main campus, built in 1956 is located at 1801 Panorama Dr, Bakersfield California; and has buildings that are over 60 years old dating back to the original campus construction. 

The original campus was built long before the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as well as before the Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities was passed in 1991. The Department of Justice has since then passed an updated version of the guidelines for buildings and Facilities in 2010 which set minimal requirements for government facilities, further exemplifying changes in architecture and ADA compliance. 

Chapter 126, section 12101 titled “Findings and Purpose” of the ADA Act states, “historically, society has tended to isolate and segregate individuals with disabilities...” it further notes that this isolation and segregation occurs within the “...critical areas as employment, housing, public accommodations, education...”  

It even acknowledges the discrimination faced by people with physical disabilities in buildings, “Individuals with disabilities continually encounter forms of discrimination, including outright intentional exclusion, the discriminatory effects of architectural transportation..., failure to make modification to existing facilities and practices” 

 With the construction of Bakersfield College occurring before the ADA guidelines were created, many structures remain architecturally compromised, as accessibility issues continue to plague the campus. 

In the Education Master Plan 2023-2028, Appendices: Facilities and Infrastructure for the Future; Measure J, it states “The BC campus has 154 acres and 35 buildings with over 700,000 square feet of instructional space, including faculty offices. The majority of the buildings are over 60 years old, dating to the initial construction when the College moved to Panorama in 1953.” 

Some of the dated campus buildings include the Language Arts, Humanities, Fine Arts, and the CSS (Center for Student Success) buildings.  

The Language Arts-Schafer Hall finished construction in 1968 and has been without any huge remodeling since.  

The Humanities building was constructed in 1956 and has also withgone any major renovations since, clearly needing an accessibility revamp.  

Fine Arts building, finished in 1956 with additions to the building being made in the 60s and 70s, but without any major renovations being completed since. According to the Education Master Plan, “the mechanical systems have deteriorated.” 

The CSS building was originally constructed in 1958, according to the Education Master Plan, and is also noted to have “issues with ADA access.” Its outdated design is specifically a barrier to accessing the many services that the CSS building houses, such as  DSPS (Disabled Students Programs and Services), EOP&S (Extended Opportunity Program Services), general counseling and advising, the tutoring center, and a slew of support services. 

The dated nature of the campus was the major initiative behind the campaigning of Measure J in the 2016 local election. The measure which passed provided a $502.8 million bond for the KCCD (Kern Community College District) comprising Bakersfield College, Porterville College, and Cerro Coso Community College. After the delegating of the bond across the three different KCCD colleges, BC received $415 million. 

The measure written on the ballot claimed to be necessary for “updating facilities to improve accessibility for the disabled” in addition to its other general initiatives of revolutionizing the Bakersfield College Panorama campus. 

Supporter and senior adviser of Measure J, Bill Thomas said in The Rip article titled $503 million bond measure to shape the future of the KCCD by Morgan Park, “The advantage of people voting yes on Measure J is that we will, in a few years, have one of the most modern facilities on any college campus in California.”  

Construction has continued, with the Facilities Master Plan Update (last updated in the Spring of 2018) seeing the completion of several new buildings, however, general accessibility issues are said to be improved upon with the construction of new buildings, yet there is no specific mentions outlining how Measure J will improve the main campuses accessibility, or if any such renovations will be done to older buildings specifically with accessibility in mind. 

Accessibility continues to remain an issue of the past in the present in BC; multiple decades later and hundreds of millions of dollars after.