Groundbreaking Slated for Nov. 7

Nov. 5, 2013 - Cal Poly Pomona's Collins College of Hospitality Management will commence construction of its $10 million building expansion during a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The Collins College’s expansion is fully funded by private donations from longtime supporters of the college, including namesakes Carol and Jim Collins, who pledged to match $5 million toward the project. Together, Panda Restaurant Group founders Andrew and Peggy Cherng, The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, prominent Inland Empire businessman Eugene Park, and Richard N. Frank and his late wife Mary Alice, collectively donated the other $5 million.

The 15,000-square-foot expansion includes two buildings and addresses the college’s growth needs in a sustainable way by striving to achieve LEED Gold certification. In addition to more classrooms and faculty workspace, the project will create a home base for the college’s three-year-old graduate program and a social space for students. Classrooms will utilize cutting-edge technology and innovative “flex” furniture designed to move and adapt to the evolving needs of today’s classroom. The project was designed by Ontario-based HMC Architects. Gilbane Building Company is the project’s construction management at-risk firm.

The buildings will include:

flex classrooms
spacious student commons
faculty offices
group study rooms
executive director offices for graduate education and professional development
conference room

Fundraising efforts are ongoing to raise an additional $1 million to furnish, equip and maintain the expansion. There are numerous naming opportunities and a donor recognition wall that range from $250 to $250,000. For more information, please visit,http://www.cpp.edu/~collins/give.shtml.

About the college - Founded in 1973, The Collins College of Hospitality Management is the first and largest four-year hospitality management degree program in California and the only hospitality management college on the West Coast. Approximately 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive a superior education in the state-of-the-art Collins College facilities, where they learn to apply hospitality management theories and concepts to real-world settings. Part of this unique academic experience includes managing and operating the full-service Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch.