Architects working on FVCC health center design

Architects have produced preliminary designs for Flathead Valley Community Colleges $5 million Rebecca Chaney Broussard Nursing and Health Sciences Center.

The designs were presented to the board of trustees on Tuesday.

College President Jane Karas introduced Corey Johnson of CTA Architects, who said the firm has produced about 50 percent of the construction documents.

At four and a half months to be at 50 percent is a pretty good clip, he said. We are right on target to hit a summer construction schedule.

Johnson said the schedule calls for going to bid in mid-April and awarding a construction contract in mid-May.

David Koel, senior design architect, went over preliminary drawings of exterior and interior features. He said the firm began by identifying unifying elements of campus buildings as concrete, metal and glass along with maroon colors.

Koel said the architects worked to create a really nice appearance that a major donation building requires while making it blend in with the other buildings on campus such as the nearby Arts and Technology building. His exterior design uses concrete columns, metal and a lot of glass for a modernistic look for the 30,000 square-foot, one-level building.

The project is largely funded by a $4 million gift the largest in the colleges history from the Broussard family. The family made the gift as a memorial to the late Rebecca Broussard, who was formerly a nurse and deeply committed to education.

They gave the donation with the proviso that the community give an additional $1 million for the center that will house allied health programs as well as a student health clinic. Karas said the match fund has now reached $610,000.

The college chose an area on the south end of the original campus buildings. Karas said earlier that it may displace some parking.

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Architects working on FVCC health center design