Crafton Hills Scheduled Grand Opening Celebration for Feb. 5

Crafton Hills College is heralding the grand opening of three new buildings on its campus that usher the college into a new era. A special grand opening celebration will be held on Friday, Feb. 5 to recognize the Public Safety & Allied Health (PSAH) building, Canyon Hall, and the Crafton Center. Building tours will begin at 1 p.m. in 15 minute intervals, a dedication of the Krasovec Simulation Center in PSAH is scheduled at 2:30 p.m., and the ribbon cutting ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. The Public Safety & Allied Health building is a 46,937-square-foot state-of-the-art facility that houses the Emergency Medical Services/Paramedic program, Fire Academy, and the Respiratory Therapy program. The Stanley Krasovec Simulation Center, inside PSAH, houses automated artificial patients (mannequins) who can breathe, talk, exhibit symptoms, and even give birth! Instructors program the mannequins with scenarios the students can expect to encounter in their careers, and students use hands-on practice to learn how to care for the patient. Outside of the three-bay fire engine garage, is a drill yard and spray wall complete with a water recycling feature for Fire Academy drills. The building is LEED Silver Certified. Canyon Hall is a 36,000-square-foot facility with two wings—one for laboratories and classrooms, the other for faculty offices and conference rooms. The building rests in the canyon with a view overlooking the valley and utilizes contextual designs themes and materials. It houses chemistry, organic chemistry, anatomy, biology and microbiology/molecular biology. It is designed to collect storm water around the building and direct it to the existing drainage system down the canyon and into the City of Yucaipa. It is also LEED Silver. The new hub of the campus is the Crafton Center, housing administration and instruction offices, student services, the Crafton Store and the Roadrunner Café. The 46,500-square-foot building has a central two-story open lobby and a new outdoor dining patio to encourage student interaction and engagement. These three buildings join the Kinesiology, Health & Aquatics Center, which opened last year, and the Learning Resources Center, which opened in 2010, as facilities completed with Measure P and Measure M bond funds supported by the voters in 2002 and 2008. “These facilities will help us accommodate our increased student enrollments,” says Dr. Cheryl Marshall, president. “Add our caring faculty, beautiful campus, and a new athletics program to the mix, and Crafton Hills College is the place to be.”