De Anza College students can look forward to relief from the ongoing construction on campus as several major projects, including swimming pools and the Mediated Learning Center, are nearing completion. 

The two swimming pools on campus were closed at the beginning of winter quarter to fix recently discovered leaks.  As a result of the closure, sports teams that practiced in the pools had to find a temporary substitute. 

Some teams benefited from the closure. “It’s been an interesting season because we’ve been up at Foothill practicing,” said swimming and diving coach Danielle Von Matt. “It’s really helped the team bond.”

Both swimming pools should be open by the end of the month.

The Mediated Learning Center, which has been under construction since 2007,  is slated to open by fall quarter 2012.

It will house general purpose classrooms, a distance learning classroom and classes that will be used as an anthropology “home base,” said Donna Jones-Dulin, Associate Vice President of Finance & Educational Resources.

The building was designed to receive a platinum rating in Leadership in Energy and Environmental design by using as much on-site energy production as possible while creating the smallest carbon footprint. Several other buildings around campus have earned LEED ratings, but none as high as platinum.

Located on the roof of the Mediated Learning Center are solar photovoltac panels which create electricity and solar water panels which heat the building’s water.  The interior is ventilated by a buoyancy system which removes the need for expensive heating and air conditioning,  and it is primarily lit by natural light through skylights and large windows.

Renovations to the old track and football field have begun and are scheduled to be complete late in fall quarter 2012, according to De Anza’s website.

The track, field and surrounding bleachers have been entirely demolished and removed.  Heavy equipment and a dirt lot stand now where the old field once stood. “That facility had not been upgraded since the campus was built,” said Jones-Dulin. 

“And it really showed.”

A NCAA rated track and field will be built, along with an improved sound system and bleachers.  Bathrooms will be renovated to be more handicap accessible. 

The Advanced Technology Center will be the next building to undergo renovations, with major work consisting of reorganizing data closets to be in a more central location though out the building. Construction on the ATC will begin in December and last roughly a year.

As construction begins in the ATC, classes will be temporarily relocated to the newly opened Mediated Learning Center.

The library will also be undergoing renovations to seismically retrofit the building and update it’s capacity for technology.

Open for business- Swimmers escape from the heat in De Anza’s racing pool, which opened the week of April 16. The diving pool is expected to open in May.

Heavy Equipment – Construction workers remove a pile of dirt from where the old field used to sit. A new, NCAA rated track and field will be installed and is expected to open late in fall quarter 2012.