The complex provides space for animal science, crop science, plant science, horticulture programs, conference rooms for staff, and a room for student leadership groups. The building is a publicly funded project that will take $12.6 million from a 2002 local bond and $12.3 million in matching funds from the state via Proposition 51, a community college projects bond from 2016, Vitelli explained. The project's overall cost is $24,894,000 and is estimated to take 15 months, with completion by August 2022. Merced College Board of Trustees on May 11 approved the project's $20,971,000 construction bid from F&H Construction out of Lodi. 'This complex will change the jobs, it will help create the innovation, it will continue towards and ultimately contribute towards the talented and skilled workforce it will provide this community and region.' 'We could not have been happier and more incredibly thankful to complete the fulfillment of a promise we made to this community,' Merced College President Chris Vitelli said Wednesday. The complex will serve as the main building for agricultural-related instruction at the college. This practice is helpful for providing adequate sediment controls.For the first time in more than a decade, Merced College will have a new building.Ĭonstruction of the new 29,000-square-foot Raj Kahlon Agriculture and Industrial Technology Complex kicked off Wednesday morning with a formal groundbreaking ceremony. Surface flow will run off the impervious surfaces and be captured by on-site storm drain inlets and directed to storm drain lines. F&H Construction Contractors effectively implemented BMPs that resulted in the elimination of pollutants in stormwater discharges.į&H protected nearby surface waters by installing storm drain lines prior to construction. We worked together with F&H Construction to ensure on-site conditions were compliant with state and local stormwater regulations. I look forward to the final phases of the project as it should be completed at the end of this year.”

F&H Construction has been amazing to work with and addresses all project concerns in a timely manner. “It has been an incredible experience to see the complex constructed from the ground up. Here is what our inspector Emily Ferreira had to say about her experience working on this project:

Raj kahlon merced ca