The W Building has additional square footage that was added to the west wing. The V Building has 16 teaching and learning spaces as well as also holding mechanical, support, communications, restrooms, storage and collaborative spaces.
Soon the Dallas College Brookhaven Campus will see these new developments come to completion. In 2019, Dallas County voters approved a $1.1 billion bond to construct, improve, renovate and equip buildings for Dallas College.
The V Building will welcome Early College High School students who participate in a dual credit program where they earn college credit toward an associate degree while in high school. The V and W buildings will house 360 ECHS students from Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. The new facility features administrative suites, a cafeteria to distribute student lunches, classrooms and labs tailored to accommodate student education. Classes will begin in the 2024-25 CFBISD school year on August 12.
The goals of this bond are to expand early college high schools, develop student collaborative learning spaces and enhance the student learning experience with new instructional learning styles and technology.
Dallas College is working to improve the number and types of degrees and certificates awarded while continuing to lower student debt.
The cost of the buildings is near $1.5 million for design and upwards of $25 million for construction. Other Dallas College campuses are receiving similar projects.
Additional funds are being spent on repairs, improvements and upgrades for those campuses. The COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain crisis created delays and has been a major factor in the progress of construction.
Vincent Price is the construction manager overseeing the construction projects. There were 15-60 workers on-site at any given time on four different projects.
Contractors comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety standards and regulations. Price monitors, communicates and administers their activities. “Being a witness and participant in the entire process, watching it go from a pile of dirt to a functional building is rewarding,” Price said.
“I am excited about creating culture that will bring us together in a new place,” Timothy Isaly, ECHS principal, said. “I’m always in favor of trying to build and develop and sustain culture.”
For this program, freshmen students take seven high school classes and a foreign language college class.
After passing the Texas Success Initiative Assessment, juniors and seniors have the option of taking two to four college classes and two to three high school classes.
As of now, ECHS students are working in a small space awaiting the opening of the early college center.
Windmill Circle Road was modified and closed during construction but is now open. Also receiving an upgrade is the campus fountain.
John Watson, Brookhaven facility manager, said, “The Birthday Cake Fountain was experiencing accelerating deterioration over the past year or more.” The project is nearing completion with a new pump, electrical supply, new nozzles and lighting. The basin will be drained and prepared for new tile.
Concrete structures around the fountain courtyard were repaired and LED lighting installed.
Another fountain between A and B Buildings was completely removed. Excessive rainfall into that fountain was making its way into adjacent buildings and high voltage equipment below them.
A minimalist approach is being worked on to restore the area with a focus on storm water control.
