Hundreds of students, faculty and staff at Onondaga Community College joined elected officials and business leaders in dedicating O-C-C’s newest building. The key tenant of the building will be the school’s music program. Both current students and faculty believe new rehearsal spaces, practice studios and other facilities will attract students from around the state. The building’s exterior is even designed to resemble the neck of a guitar. It also has high-tech classrooms for other subjects.
But it’s most prominent feature is that it spans the gorge running through campus – at one point 50 feet above ground. Included in the design are green building features, such as use of recycled building materials, keeping construction waste out of landfills, energy efficient lighting and low-water-use plumbing.
Campus Building Boom
It further represents the end of a five-year capital boom, that’s seen a stadium, other new fields, the S-R-C center, and renovation of many academic facilities. Expansion and upgrading of the campus have coincided with a boom in students – currently approaching 13-thousand.
