Day by day, students witness an investment for the future under development as San Jose City College fills with building planners and contractors on the construction site next to the Cosmetology building. The Career Education Complex entered the scene in 2019, making it the most expensive investments for the school in its history. The companies leading the project are construction contractor Flint Builders alongside the 2023 award-winning architecture firm Steinberg Hart.

Resident voters in San Jose voiced their support to welcome Measure X, which used a facilities bond that benefits buildings located in San Jose City College and Evergreen Valley College. Furthermore, this includes a $748 million bond that allows for renovations and repairs that passed in 2016. The Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee will do all repairs and restorations to ensure all buildings meet the proper safety requirements.

Currently, builders are pounding away at the steel foundation, but the project looks far from finished and is projected to open in 2025, roughly one year behind the posted 2024 date. The purpose of this project creates space for programs such as “medical assisting, laser technology, heating ventilation, and air conditioning classes,” said Daniel Garza, Director of Marketing and Public Relations. Aside from classrooms, technical programs such as dental assistance and computer coding are skills that students will have if they want to receive a certificate to enter the workforce.

While the new building benefits future students, there are side effects such as the excessive noise from the construction. Ivana Aguilera, a Computer Science major, explained, “I’m in the classroom right here, like right across, and I can hear it all the way inside the classroom.”

Daniel Garcia, a Dental Assisting major, feels “like it would give a new experience for the newcomers who want to major in those programs.” Another student, Joshua Vidal, a Mechanical Engineering student, explained, “it is going to pay off in the end, all the programs are going to be there so students do not have to walk back and forth to their classes.”

Students’ optimistic view for the completion of the Career Education Complex creates excitement for the future. Once the building finishes, the celebration and marketing will kick off to showcase the investment. “We’ll probably have a ribbon-cutting ceremony…we’ll have the TV news and social media marketing,” said Garza.