After 43 years of operation, officials say College of the Canyons needs upgrading. Measure E, a proposed bond measure on the June 7 ballot, would modernize the college and build it’s Canyon Country campus to meet the growing needs of students in the Santa Clarita Valley.

“(When we opened the Canyon Country campus), our target was 3,500 students,” College of the Canyons Chancellor Dr. Dianne Van Hook said on a recent on-air interview with KHTS AM-1220 Co-Owner Carl Goldman. “The day that we opened, we had 3,532 students. So we exceeded our five-year target the day we (opened the campus).”

These numbers reflect the growing student population, and the fact that infrastructure at the Valencia campus is unable to sustain the high enrollment at the school.

About 20,000 students are currently enrolled at College of the Canyons, and at least one of the buildings that officials are proposing be rebuilt with the bond money was never meant to support that number.

“Eventually (we will be) taking down our student center, which was originally designed, as was (the rest of the Valencia campus) to serve a maximum grand enrollment of 5,000 students,” said Van Hook.

Another building that would be rebuilt from the ground up is Towsley Hall, the college’s technical training center. It would be replaced with a new building “four to six times its size,” according to Van Hook.

This center houses the school’s EMT and fabrication/welding programs.

“The demand comes to us,” Van Hook said, “like it’s coming to us now, either for general education and transferrable courses, or for job specific training that’s needed in emerging or advancing fields in our workforce.”

Related Story: Measure E’s Potential Impacts On College Of The Canyons’ Canyon Country Campus

Van Hook said that the original buildings on the campus were opened in 1973, when the fax machine was the cutting edge of technology.

“We didn’t have (modern) technology in 1973, or at least the technology we had, kids today wouldn’t recognize,” she said. “(Some of that equipment) is ancient history.”

With the money provided by Measure E, she continued, both of the college’s campuses could be redesigned with the modern student in mind.

“It’s hard to teach (the arts) without proper facilities and labs,” Van Hook said. “So it’s going to be very exciting, and I think that will really take Canyon Country to the next level.”

However, she added, it is up to the voters in June whether COC will receive these upgrades.

“The demand is there,” Van Hook said. “Now we just have to make the construction happen to create those opportunities for the people who need them.”

For more information about Measure E, visit the Yes on E for COC website.