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The 104,139-square-foot building, named in honor of Armen Sarafian, PCC’s president from 1965 to 1976, replaces the original building, which was shuttered in 2012 due to seismic safety concerns.
The new state-of-the-art facility includes 17 science laboratories, five flexible lecture halls, five nursing labs, and a Radiological Technology Center equipped with an X-ray and observation room, along with a postcard view of the San Gabriel Mountains from the fifth floor labs and offices.
The Center also houses a 2,670-square-foot student health clinic.
College officials, faculty, students, and former elected officials gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which featured remarks from PCC Superintendent/President Dr. José A. Gómez and others, including Mayor Victor Gordo, former State Assemblymember Chris Holden and former State Senator Anthony Portantino.
Members of the Sarafian family were also on hand for the event.
“This feels like a bit of a homecoming,” said Gómez. “So many of our friends that helped make this day possible are here.”
Gómez introduced several groups of guests including the members of the Board of Trustees, faculty members, the president of the Board of Trustees, as well as student leaders, and representatives from the construction, design and architecture firms who helped design and build the new center.
Gómez also took note of the backdrop for the construction of the center—the historic Eaton Fire.
“It’s impossible to be a part of this community and not acknowledge the moment we find ourselves in,” he said. The PCC campus quickly became a critical resource and safe harbor for students and their families for weeks, once the fire broke out on January 7.
“Because the fire caused so much loss in our community,” Gomez continued. “It’s especially good to celebrate something new and beautiful—this new resource that will benefit the larger community.”
Alton Wang, president of the PCC Board of Trustees, added that “This new building and all that it will be used for, is a reminder of all the ways that PCC has served our community throughout its entire existence.”
PCC alum Mayor Victor Gordo gratefully acknowledged his days as a PCC student, that allowed him to transfer to a university and eventually on to law school.
Gordo explained that he arrived from Mexico with his family when he was five years old, and his family lived in a garage.
“The first 5 or 6 years of school were very difficult for me,” he recalled, “because I didn’t speak the language, but when I left high school, PCC found a place for me to prepare myself so that I could become a lawyer, and eventually the mayor.”
The new center was funded jointly by state bond dollars and local support through Measure PCC and is the first completed project in the college’s Facilities Strategic Plan, which envisions an accompanying Health & Sciences Building directly to the east, as well as other building, safety, and sustainability improvements across the district’s campuses.
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