Audio recording of GCC North Groundbreaking Ceremony

              Glendale Community College North Groundbreaking
(date)
Speakers:  (no one identified)
Glendale Arizona Oral History Project
Project director:  Diane Neville
Transcribed by:  Jardee Transcription, Tucson, Arizona

MAN:  I want to talk a little bit about the dream, the dream of building a campus in this special place, that would honor the unique beauty of the desert around us and sit gently on the land.
WOMAN:  GCC North was created to bring quality higher education to the northwest valley.  Our board members and our chancellors at that time saw a need and saw that the valley was growing to the northwest, and it had the foresight to see that we needed to bring opportunity for a college education up into the northwest area, because that seemed to be the direction that the population was moving to.
WOMAN:  This project has taken years in the making, with planning input from the community, Maricopa Community College District, and the campus community of GCC.
MAN:  We were involved in the planning session, and they are all about serving students, everything down to the enrollment center is a one-stop shop.  We’re very grateful and we look forward to continued student enrollment.
MAN:  We wanted to build a place that would preserve the views to the mountains, especially Luten [phonetic] Mountain, that dominates the skyline to the north.  And we wanted to create a campus that extends that same courtesy to its neighbors, so they also may enjoy the views of the mountains as well.  So the buildings have been created and lay low on the land to not obstruct any of the views from the neighbors around this campus.
MAN:  This [actual sign?] has 67,000 square feet of instructional space, and new facilities, including new science labs, student services, and a state-of-the-art fitness center, and which will be able to fully serve with degrees and services, our more than 3,000 students who have already registered to start classes on August 25.
MAN:  Approximately seventeen months ago, we were standing on the site, getting ready to start building.  It was March 28, 2007, we started.  And to build these four buildings on this campus in that time frame was a pretty daunting task.  And I want to thank Maricopa Community College District, Jeanie [phonetic] and her staff, and Arnot [phonetic] Design for working with us.  It was really truly a team effort to overcome the obstacles that we had and tackle the issues to get this project open on time and ready for the fall semester.
MAN:  And they did it on time and within budget, and this is the same.  This college, our district, continues to use its resources wisely, and I would like to congratulate Glendale again for setting our role model, in the economy that we’re having now, with the inflation that we’re having, to be able to fulfill the wishes of our voters who supported us.  And I would like to again thank all of you for joining us this evening.  And thank you for your continued support, and tell you that we will continue to demonstrate that we are worthy stewards of your support and your efforts.
MAN:  A collegiate experience, one of exploration and personal growth, is also challenging and at times stressful.  The experience, however, is enriched with intellectual enlightenment, friendships for life, and memory of place.  We sincerely hope that Glendale Community College will be a place of fond memories for all the community members that will come here to learn and to teach.  This campus was designed for you.
WOMAN:  We have been, and we will continue to be good stewards of our community dollars and our state dollars and the resources taxpayers have entrusted us with.  It is truly exciting to see our planning take its form as this Glendale North Campus.
(ribbon cutting, applause and cheers)
[END OF RECORDING]