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Vista College is ushering in a new era by bringing down the house—in this case, the old Berkeley City Services Center at 2020 Center St. 

Starting this morning (Nov. 18) demolition workers will break out their jackhammers and wrecking balls, paving the way for construction of a six-story downtown campus for Berkeley’s community college—long maligned as the stepchild of the Peralta Community College district. 

“I think it’s going to have a profound impact,” said Daryl Moore, of the Peralta Board of Trustees. “This gives us a permanent home.” 

Vista, the only one of Peralta’s four schools without a home, has been renting downtown classroom space to the tune of $1.5 million per year.  

When the new campus is completed in the Summer of 2005, Vista’s 4,500+ students will enjoy educational opportunities inconceivable at their current spaces, said Vista spokesperson Shirley Fogarino. 

“The facilities will be so updated,” she said, adding that students accustomed to outdated computers and snail-paced networks will have access to multimedia labs, digital video production studios and animation equipment. 

The building features an atrium with space to hold art exhibits, a ground floor 250-person conference center open for public use, and 40-50 classrooms on the floors above—enough to meet the needs of the 7,500 students projected to attend the school by 2016. 

Some residents, though, have scoffed at the design which calls for exterior glass paneling, which critics say makes it look more like a suburban bank than a college. 

“Anyone who has seen the design has to gasp,” said Landmarks Commissioner Leslie Emmington. “This is a very dark, unattractive, sad building.” 

Because it’s an Alameda County project, Vista was exempted from the city’s Design Review process.  

The new building is rooted in the “de-annexation” movement of the mid- and late 1990s. At the time, Vista advocates, including now-Mayor Tom Bates, accused Peralta of underfunding the college and threatened to abandon the district. 

A final settlement brokered by the state in 1998 included pledges to hire two new faculty members per year for 10 years and find the school a permanent home. 

Vista officials acquired the Center Street building and adjacent parking lot through eminent domain after failing to negotiate a price with the owner. City services have since been relocated to 1947 Center St. 

The district will finance the $65 million project through a series of voter-approved bonds. Fogarino said the district is getting $50 million from two previous district bonds approved by county voters in 1998 and 2000 and $25 million from Proposition 47, a statewide ballot initiative approved last year. 

Moore said the funding was coming from three district bonds as well as Proposition 47, amounting to $75 million—$10 million more than the current cost estimate. 

Berkeley wants the district to compensate it for the loss of 50 parking spaces at the former lot. Transportation Director Peter Hillier said the city and district are still negotiating, adding that the cost of replacing one downtown parking space ranged from $25,000-$40,000. 

Berkeley parking lots have maintained vacancies since Vista closed the lot last year, but city officials fear that with the planned closure of the Kittredge Street lot and an improving economy, downtown lots might fill up during peak early afternoon hours. 

Vista will provide parking spaces for 80 bicycles, and officials say most students will commute to class by BART or AC Transit.  

The ultimate impact on the downtown will likely depend on the school’s enrollment. After 10 years of steady growth, state funding cuts forced administrators to cancel 21 percent of classes, costing the school about 10 percent of its enrollment, Fogarino said. 

More cuts are expected for the spring semester, but Moore said he was optimistic that, despite the school’s being “under a dark cloud,” Vista will benefit from a rebounding economy and grow into the facility. 

Tuesday’s demolition also serves as the kickoff for a school fundraising drive aimed at matching $2.1 million offered by the state for computers, lab equipment, desks and chairs not covered by the bonds.