Overview
Ten years ago, the College Community Center was the only building across the “dry creek bed” from the heart of the main campus in Elko. Since then, four major buildings have been added to the campus near the Community Center: the Fitness Center, Theatre, Child Center, and Health Sciences Building along with the outdoor amphitheatre. The creek, which contained water only during the spring runoff, now runs water through recirculating pumps. It has an elevation drop of nine feet between the upper creek and lower creek through what is now the center of the campus. The upper and lower creek present a meandering water flow that produces, in the words of the architectural designer, a more relaxing and quiet feeling for the core of the campus.

Across Elm Street from Lundberg Hall, GBC’s newest classroom building, the High Tech Center, was completed in October, 2001. It is used jointly by GBC, students and teachers from Elko High School, and K-12 teachers from northeastern Nevada as part of the Regional Professional Development Center (RPDP).

The new additions to the Elko campus are attractive and functional. The new buildings and landscape project give the campus a significantly wider array of instructional areas, an important asset for student recruitment and retention, and a higher profile in the community. In the words of one community member, “GBC has been transformed into an oasis in the high desert.”

The improvements also reflect a successful College Foundation and a resourceful administration. The majority of the funding for the theater and fitness center came from the Foundation’s efforts. The solarium—which connects the community center, theater, and fitness center—was part of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation gift, along with the clock tower, outdoor amphitheatre, waterway, paths, and enhanced landscaping. The main part of the Dawson Child Center was funded by Claude Howard, a Las Vegas philanthropist, and a recent addition to the Center was a gift from Western Nevada Supply, a Reno business. Barrick Goldstrike Mines donated the funds to furnish the Health Sciences Building. All of these gifts have required some degree of additional state funding. The High Tech Center appealed to the Nevada State Legislature because it would become a “K-16” facility, with day use by the Elko County School District and day and evening use by GBC. (Exhibit 8.1, Campus Maps)

The buildings at the branch campuses in Ely and Winnemucca were built since 1994 and are impressive improvements over the rental facilities they replaced. The first phase of the Ely building was completed in 1996, with an administrative section and vocational shop addition by Fall of 2002. The Winnemucca Center was completed in 1995 and is located near the Lowry County High School.

The Complete Document for this section is located here and is in a PDF Format.