The facility will be built on Lot 3 of PCC’s main campus, replacing an existing parking lot with an outdoor, hands-on training space designed to resemble an active construction site, according to the college.
“When [the Construction Trades Lab] is completed, this ordinary parking lot will be transformed into a hands-on, outdoor learning space that will feel like a construction site and a classroom rolled into one,” PCC Superintendent-President José Gómez said during the groundbreaking ceremony.
College officials linked the project to recovery efforts following the Eaton and Palisades fires. In January 2025, the fires destroyed 16,000 structures, according to figures cited during the event. By the time the Eaton fire was contained on Jan. 31, 2025, more than 10,000 homes, businesses, schools and places of worship had been destroyed or damaged, officials said. Pasadena City College is located minutes from neighborhoods devastated by the fires.
State Labor and Workforce Development Agency Secretary Stewart Knox attended the ceremony during a visit to Southern California, during which he also met with residents of Altadena who lost their homes in the Eaton fire, according to the college.
“We need to train people, and investing in our community colleges is one way to do that,” Knox said. “Rebuilding Los Angeles will take years and will take people with real skills.”
Funding for the Construction Trades Lab includes $2.8 million from the Walter Family Foundation through LA Rises, the governor’s initiative that brings together leaders in the private sector to support rebuilding efforts led by the city and county of Los Angeles and the state of California, according to the college.
The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office also provided PCC with $1.5 million in state funding designated for workforce development and regional rebuilding programs at community colleges. Of that amount, $500,000 will go toward the Construction Trades Lab.
The groundbreaking brought together representatives from nonprofit organizations, education and labor groups, including Ernesto Medrano, executive secretary of the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, as well as representatives of elected officials U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, state Sen. Sasha Perez, Assemblymembers John Harabedian and Mike Fong, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, according to the college.
Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo delivered opening remarks at the ceremony.
The Construction Trades Lab will be built on the same site that was transformed into a community distribution center during the Eaton fire, according to college officials.
The impact of the fire was personal for members of the college community. Board of Trustees President Steve Gibson and his wife lost their home of 24 years in the Eaton fire.
“We had to negotiate bureaucracy, utility companies, insurance companies, and in the process of rebuilding, we had to find the resources we need,” Gibson said. “We had to find contractors, workers, skilled people who could rebuild our home.”
College officials also cited existing skilled-trades initiatives, including a summer program launched six months after the fire that introduced nearly 80 local high school students to construction-related fields. The Summer Construction Careers Program was sponsored by Harbor Freight Tools for Schools, and participating students received stipends, according to the college.
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