College of the Desert to host virtual forum on Palm Springs campus
College of the Desert will host a virtual community forum to discuss the long-awaited West Valley Campus in Palm Springs.
The forum will be held on Thursday, August 4 at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom: https://bit.ly/3Q8RkVn. You'll also be able to watch the forum on COD's Youtube page at the time of the event.
The West Valley Campus is currently in the programming (or pre-design) phase of the project. Officials said during this phase, the scope of the work is determined through exploring building and user requirements.
Check out photos of the what the campus could look like
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During the Virtual Community Forum, viewers will be invited to provide their input by completing a feedback survey. This feedback survey will assist College of the Desert in getting a holistic view of the community needs of the Palm Springs area and refine how the project can best benefit students.
For those who are unable to attend the event during its live broadcast, the recording and feedback survey will be posted until August 18th.
COD's Palm Springs campus is set to be constructed on E Tahquitz Canyon Way and S Farrell Dr, the location of the former Palm Springs Mall.
Heavily Delayed Campus
COD's Palm Springs campus has been in the works since at least 2004, when voters approved the $346.5 million bond Measure B. Additional funding for the campus came in 2016, when voters approved the $577 million bond Measure CC.
In the near 20 years, there have many developments in the project, including a change in the campus site, however, the project still remains several years away.
The campus was originally set to be built on 119.4 acres at the northwest corner of Tramview Road and Indian Canyon Drive. The land was originally bought by the city of Palm Springs and gifted to the college for the campus.
In recent months, the college tried to sell that land to to a residential developer to help with funding for the Tahquitz campus. Palm Springs City Attorney Jeffrey Ballinger said this was being done without consultation or agreement with the city.
Last week, the city of Palm Springs announced it is making a $5.7 million offer to buy the Indian Canyon Dr land.
The proposal is contingent upon the college committing to the full project scale and scope previously agreed upon, including having the campus open for students on or about December 2025.
Last week, COD's board revealed that that Phase 1 of the West End Campus wouldn't be completed until 2027 or 2028, later than the original estimates released earlier this year.
