In order merely to inspect the buildings it was necessary to secure a pass from the W.A.A. office in Los Angeles. The only gate open to the base was off Newport Boulevard opposite the Santa Ana Country Club. This had beenthe main gate to the military facility. On more than one occasion we were stopped by the base guard to make certain we were within the area granted by our pass.

Just prior to our being given unrestricted entry some one discovered that the gate off Harbor at the end of Adams was not locked. The second or third time we used that entry we ran afoul of the guard, who was anything but cordial.

In looking over some early college correspondence I found a letter to a colleague written June 20, 1948. "We have now moved out to the Base and where we were formerly severely crowded, now we get lost hunting for one another."

The original application made at the time of the formation of the district, September 27, 1947, had to show the use of each building. The application displayed rare vision as to what courses might be taught. Such courses as aeronautics, ground school, pre-flight training, cosmetology, research, contracts, laws, research manufacturing, marine motors, boatbuilding, sailmaking, sail loft, judging pavilion, seventeen rooms for various branches of agriculture, civil engineering, public sanitation and eleven dormitories were included. In addition we listed the uses that are regularly considered to be a part of a two year community college. Some use was shown for each of the sixty-eight buildings.

The opening of the college in September, 1948, according to the report of the W.A.A. in October of that year, showed that some major adjustments had been made. It had been evident that five hundred and twenty-five students would be lost in the numerous buildings available. Just the cost of putting the oil heating units into operation was more than the college budget could bear. To solve this problem, nine buildings were designated in the report for salvage to secure lumber to alter other buildings. Five buildings were converted into employee dwellings-all of which were still being lived in in June of 1964. Four buildings were connected together in units of two in order to make a building trade shop and a mechanics facility. Four barracks were set aside for storage.

In addition to two men's dormitories, and a girls' dormitory there were two veterans eight-unit apartment buildings. Later a third men's dormitory was added. Dormitory supervisors included Cy Rockey and Chuck Lewis.

During the first summer, while various members of the faculty were either building houses or waiting for Balboa Island winter rentals, there were several campus residents including Dr. and Mrs. Peterson, and John and Hazel Owens. Not long ago John gave me the following account of a phase of this era: "During the summer prior to the opening of school, Dr. Peterson and I were both having houses built. In the interim, because we were both working getting Orange Coast College ready, we moved into separate barracks buildings facing each other where the present Snack Bar and Library are located. Since I had the only refrigerator on campus, Pete kept their food in it. It was Pete's job every morning to come over and get the milk, eggs, and other items so that he could have his breakfast. If we could have had a picture of his early morning trek, it would now be priceless."

The student center building was in a former military PX building at the site of the present north tennis courts while the cafeteria was in a mess hall where the present business education building stands. Only the north side was used, however. Three meals a day were served seven days a week. Whenever the business office had nothing else to do there was always the cafeteria to consider. The feeding situation moved over the years from one catastrophe to another. Two supervisors remained one year each, another two months.

On a Thursday morning just before lunch, January 29, 1948, Dr. Peterson received a telephone call that we could physically move onto the base Monday morning, provided we furnished W.A.A. with fire insurance policies covering all the buildings at the value set by W.A.A. The policies were to be delivered to the Washington Street office in Los Angeles by9:00 a.m. Monday, February 2. The amount set by W.A.A. was $900,000.

I had anticipated that sooner or later we would have to take out fire insurance. The first step was to request the Pacific Fire Rating Bureau to set rates on the college area. This was completed January l9th. On the 20th the War Assets Administration established the building values. The W.A.A. had appraised the buildings on July l, 1947 from the standpoint of an estimated reproduction of $1,379,445. The appraiser set a depreciated value of $934,265.

Securing $900,000 fire insurance on empty army buildings in eight working hours was no mean trick. A telephone call to Thomas O'Brien of Fireman's Fund, with whom I had done business while employed in another school system, produced the impossible. Mr. O'Brien was able to secure insurance for a ninety day period divided among four companies. The cost to the district was approximately $1,000 per month. On June 28th the Orange Coast Insurance Associates were asked to find coverage for $900,000 valuation of buildings at the figure submitted by them of $9,270 for one year's coverage. This program was in effect for several years.

Our efforts to get the valuation reduced were to no avail. Our basis for reduction was that barracks buildings were being sold for $800 alongside of similar buildings that were valued at $21,850. The college was never able to "break" the valuation dictum. The only solution was to replace the facility with a new building.

Insurance notwithstanding, we were officially moved in Monday morning, February 2nd-as a matter of fact we had been "partially" moved for several days. The administration building had been cleaned, the oil furnace fired, telephone installed and the electric sub-station energized. The War Assets Administration continued to operate the water and sewer system. We no longer had to stop at the entrance gate each time we entered or left. Our first major hurdle had been cleared.

What had to be accomplished between February 1st and September 10th, was to get the several classrooms and other buildings into operation, purchase supplies and equipment and employ the necessary classified staff to operate the institution on a budget made up by the 35c tax levy.

The district budget for the first year of operation 1947-48 had $72,000 set aside for all purposes except Capital Outlay. The Capital Outlay figure was $83,000 of which $10,000 was for Improvement of Grounds, $40,000 for new buildings and $33,000 for equipment. By January 12, l948 $74,477.2l still remained to be paid.

One major expenditure figure in the budget was $70,000 for Transfers-Tuition. Witll the undistributed reserve and General Balance the first budget totaled $264,253.

By the time Dr. Peterson and Dr. Thornton had established the opening enrollment at 525, they missed by four. The courses of study had been pretty well established-but no instructors had been employed. The Business Office was instructed to purchase the furniture, equipment, supplies and books for the opening of college.

Bids for catalogs, typewriters, microscopes, cash registers and a hundred other necessary items were being accepted.

In addition, there was the job of staffing a cafeteria, men's dormitory, women's dormitory, bookstore and fountain. While district operations could be financed with district funds the "student body" business could not. These operations had to start on credit and consignment. This limited the number of milk vendors to one; Stationers Corporation consigned all the bookstore merchandise.

The football team was equipped with suits, pads, etc., purchased from the Los Angeles Dons Football Club at a cost of $850 at "a savings of at least $l,500."

In a survey of the two high schools of the district, it was determined that 70% of the students of these institutions were being furnished bus transportation. Dr. Peterson made the following recommendation: "In view of the fact that approximately 70% of the students of our district are accustomed to free bus transportation, and inasmuch as t he junior college campus is not within reasonable walking distance of any of the students, and because the district has the assessed valuation to finance adequate transportation, it is recommended that bids be placed for the lease purchase of four 72-passenger busses for delivery by September, 1948."

After negotiations extending over several months the college Board of Trustees rejected the offer of the General Services Administration to purchase 17 acres north and west of the college for $12,985. The already possessed 243 acres that had been secured at no cost along with the fact that there was a critical shortage of funds made the purchase an undesirable one.

The college not only secured the land for a campus with some buildings that could be readily converted into educational facilities, but a large quantity of equipment as well. Dr. Peterson reported to the board on February 19, 1948:

"General items to the extent of a full semi-truck load per week have been received for the past five weeks. While the machine tools are not the best, all will be of use in the Machine Shop Program. A number of new as well as used engines of both Diesel and gasoline types have been secured. A wide variety of hand tools in new condition have been delivered. Furniture, radar, navigation, radio and photographic equipment of many types have also been received. A Burroughs bookkeeping machine in working order was secured.

"On Order are-Pick Up Truck, Shop Mule, Power Mower, Bulldozer. Requests are in for Athletic Equipment, Farm Machinery, Office Equipment and Machine Tools. A weekly visit to this depot is being made. (State Surplus Agency)

"Two truck loads of material have recently been received from this source. Included in the above material were two heavy pieces of shop equipment (a stamping machine, weight 5 tons and a tube and pipe bending machine). Considerable raw material came with the lot -cold rolled steel and bar, etc. Included was some valuable photographic material. On order are - 1,000 Folding Chairs, Airplane Engines, FarmMachinery, Welding Equipment, Science and Petroleum Equipment. This office is contacted by telephone at frequent intervals. (Federal Works Agency).

"Other than 100 beds costing 8c each, nothing has been secured from this source for several weeks. This office advises us to secure through F.W.A. and S.E.S. Agency (War Assets Administration).

"The Dodge Truck and Base tractor have been received.

"An effort is being made for each of the above outlets to secure musical instruments as well as other types of various equipment. (Air Base War Assets Administration)."

Word of our moving onto the base spread rapidly among the several state agencies. The first to call was a representative of the office of the State Fire Marshal-Mr. Ross, accompanied by Mr. Ray Suess, Chief of the Orange County Fire Department. He only asked to visit every room in which students might possibly enter. He spent three days at his task-and came up with five typewritten pages of required alterations before any student could enter.

To the everlasting credit of Mr. Ross and Mr. Suess they were more interested in the establishment of a junior college on the base than in the strictest interpretation of the fire regulations. This attitude on their part is shown in a letter I sent to Dr. Peterson while he was in Washington, D.C. trying to "break" the base loose.

c/o Newport Harbor Union High School
Newport Beach, California
December 19, 1947

Dr. Basil H. Peterson
Willard Hotel
14th & Pennsylvania
Washington, D.C.

Dear Pete: Your letter of the 16th arrived this morning and has been read by the entire staff of the Orange Coast Junior College. The staff has noted the contents and the machinery has been set in motion to carry through on the several instructions given.

Yesterday Mr. Ross and Mr. Suess called at my request to recheck the base relative to fire and panic safety. The most interesting phase of the investigation had to do with Mr. Ross' approval of our using the Service Club for spectators for basketball games with a capacity up to approximately 600-providing that the bleachers are placed on the ground floor. There is a folding bleacher that will lend itself to this use. He further indicated that we could use the floor for school dances up to a capacity of some 800. It will be necessary for us to remove a major portion of the north porch. The north section having to do with food service will have to be cleared, but the extreme north end may be used for a men's shower room. The south end may be used for a women's shower and locker room with the addition of doors in both areas. It will be necessary to board up the theater stage. It is his recommendation or request that the heating in the library be changed to either a circulating hot water or forced air type with the boiler unit placed on the outside of the building. The only major loss to us is that the mess hall in the PW area may not be used for shop purposes. His instruction will be that Shop Classes may only be held in buildings of concrete floors. However, on the whole I was very much pleased with the attitude that Mr. Ross took toward our problems. While we were at lunch he commented he was "a sucker for need" and that he could see we had a "real need."

We all wish you a very "Merry Christmas," but withhold our New Year's Greetings hoping to personally give them to you. We are still hopeful however, that you will be home for Christmas. The best of luck to you in all your activities.

Cordially yours,
William F. Kimes

WFK/jw

Mr. Ross and Mr. Suess prepared a list of fifty-two major items. The last item covered smoking. "We urge and concur in the suggestion made by you that smoking be prohibited in all buildings used by students except in designated smoking and lounge areas suitably identified as such."

The last statement of the document read "a re-inspection will be made in approximately sixty days in order to determine progress of the over-all plan and also in order that our Deputy and the Orange County Forestry Service may be in a position to clarify any recommendations about which there may be discussion."

At the same time Smoking Regulations were established setting aside the Student Union Building, Faculty Lounge, Board Room during meetings, and Dormitories. It is to the credit of all concerned that over the years of use of the wooden buildings, students and faculty abided by these regulations.

The deputy State Fire Marshal hadn't completed his tour until the State Department of Education, Division of School House Planning called to make the complete tour. When their representative was ready to leave, his comment was, "We will not accept these substandard buildings for instructional purposes-illumination is totally inadequate. We can't approve students being taught in such facilities."

Within the same week a field representative of the Division of Architecture arrived on the campus. He crawled into the attics of the auditorium (moving picture theater), gymnasium (service club), and classroom buildings. All of the structure was exposed in the mess halls that were to be used. His report was that the college could not accept the buildings for educational use without bringing them "up to code." This we hadn't planned on doing before the opening of college in September. We were convinced after the list came from the Division of Architecture that bringing all the buildings up to code for the Fire Marshal, School House Planning and Architecture would be impossible. It was during this period of order upon order that the War Assets Administration served the ultimatum that continued occupancy of the campus would be dependent upon the college operating the water plant and the sewer system. We were assured that the operation would be for only a ninety day period.

In addition to these problems we had the trying and difficult situation of employment. As soon as word went out that the college had taken over the base, it seemed that everyone who had worked there during the war expected to be hired back. The list of job applicants included guards, night watchmen, electricians, plumbers, heating plant engineers, building inspectors, supervisors of maintenance, custodians, gardeners, area managers, fire chief, fire truck driver, accountants, food service and post exchange men-and some who just wanted a job. Most of the applications were for positions with an office, vehicle and office clerical. It was surprising how many had friends of influence or were sent by " ". The business office had a half time secretary by then.

Dr. Peterson came up with a unique idea to delay having to meet the requirements of the Division of Architecture and School House Planning. Instead of accepting title to the property we would enter into an agreement to purchase at the end of two years-"Lease Purchase." In short, we would occupy the facility-but it would be on a two year temporary basis. During this time the campus would be the property of the War Assets Administration over which the state had no jurisdiction. The Peterson Diplomacy prevailed. The representative of War Assets Adlministration was a John P. Gifford who Lad taught in the adjoining classroom in Piedmont High School some twenty years prior where Basil H. Peterson was also teaching. Together the agreemcnt was prepared and approved by Washington. This took Architecture and School House Planning "off our back"-but not the Fire Marshal. We would meet his list or--.

Part of the compromise worked out was that the college would bring the two classroom buildings up to the minimum Division of Architecture specifications. A second understanding was that the district would call for a vote of the people to either bring the air force buildings up to full code requirements or erect new buildings. The way was now open to prepare the buildings for classes-and almost six weeks had been lost in inspection, negotiation and compromise.

With the acceptance of the campus the district inherited two "key" personnel-a supervisor of buildings and grounds, and a supervisor of custodians. These two men and the cafeteria supervisor left at the end of the first year as did the bookkeeper, and bookstore manager.

The architectural firm of Marsh, Smith and Powell were employed on an hourly basis to re-do the two classroom buildings. The work was let out on a contract and inspected by a college employee. When the county electrical inspector came out to approve the job-he didn't. The college building inspector had permitted substandard wiring.

Frances Albers had been employed as a carpenter. He inherited the job of altering cook's work tables into chemistry laboratory tables and other improvements to fit the building currently used for a Counseling Center into a Science Hall. The construction work progressed satisfactorily-it was the delivery of the acid sinks, troughs and fixtures that delayed completion. On Thursday before the opening of college, Dr. Peterson ordered the business office to purchase regular "domestic" gas jets and "get them installed." The job was completed by Friday noon when the shipment of gas and air jets designed for chemistry tables arrived.

By June 14, we were sufficiently confident of being ready for the opening of college September 13, 1948 that Friday, September 10th, was established as "Open House"-from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. The dedication of the campus was set for Sunday, October 6th and Congressman John Phillips was invited to be the speaker.

As an inducement to get students interested in the college, and the fact that unskilled labor received a lower rate than skilled, some hundred young prospective college fellows were elllr)loyed. These were broken down into work crews under the supervision of adults. There was a lot of activity - but it wasn't always work. With sixty-eight buildings there were many places to hide away for a little unauthorized rest. According to the agenda for the August 25th meeting under Progress of Campus Work: "one week ago, a complete survey was made of all remaining work to be done preparatory to beginning class instruction. On the basis of this survey, additional men were employed and all crews organized on the basis of completing all work by September 10th. Forty names were added to the day laborer group. Seven currently employed day laborers were advanced to special classifications of painters, carpenters, etc., with a 25¢ per hour wage raise." In excess of 100 students were now on the payroll (working). Whether or not their employment was an economical move can never be proven. The work was finally accomplished.

Friday noon before college opened Dr. Peterson made another of his many tours-there were areas that hadn't been cleaned up. He advised the business office that he would personally be a part of the clean-up crew. It was probably four o'clock in the afternoon when a truck driven by a student, Dr. Peterson, Bert Wilson, a couple of student employees and I started the rounds to pick up trash, pieces of lumber and what not. It was well after 6.00 p.m. when the job was completed and college was ready to start. The campus was clean but the President needed a bath.

With the exception of the Supervisor of Custodians the custodial staff was made up of students. They were scheduled to work late afternoon and early morning. There were three or four fellows who had learned to work- and were willing. One of these was Dean Burchett who never left the campus and yet has completed his Masters Degree in Education. Dean is the only one of the first group who is still employed at the college. There are other Coast graduates now working both as classified and certificated employees.

The operation of the water and sewer systems turned out not to be for ninety days but for nine years. The college was advised to charge "expenses" to the resident users -Airport for sewer, Fair District, Segerstrom Brothers Warehouse, and Southern California Bible College for water, sewer and electricity. Computing the expense wasn't difficult-cost per 1,000 gallons of water and cost per KW hours. Where the difficulty arose was trying to recover the costs of maintenance. Our customers didn't feel that this was any responsibility of theirs, War Assets refused to furnish any cash or help. The college had no choice but to keep the plant in operation or close the college.

There were some interesting moments. One to be remembered was when the water table dropped below the bottom of the pipes in three of the four wells. The one pump still in water could only produce some seven hundred gallons per minute-by pumping twentyfour hours a day water for the class hours could be produced. It was a critical three days while one of the pumps was "pulled," and a twenty foot section added on the 2,000 gallon per minute unit.

After a very heavy rain, in which most of the gophers were drowned, the pump operator came into the office to report that there was a large cave-in under the south side of the big pump. Inspection showed that the concrete floor of the building was being supported by the well casing. Eight truck loads of gravel-ten yards to the load, were required to fill the hole. Fortunately the pump basin did not cave in, so that production continued.

The situation looked anything but good wheel the seventy-five horse power motor on well number four shorted out. When the pump repair company removed the motor they learned that it was wound in square wire-a practice of some thirty years before. A temporary repair was made of brazing the ends together, a repair that might go out any time, but lasted all the years that the college operated the water plant.

A section of the water line was ciglltecn inch steel line. After the third leak it appeared more economical to by-pass this section of line by installing some hundred feet of twelve inch cast iron line. Although War Assets was not pleased with our making such alterations, we won out on the basis that our instructions were to "produce water." Nothing had been said about maintaining the underground pipe lines.

Two major decisions regarding the future of the campus had to be made during this period of alteration. The first was the securing of an architect to do a master campus plan; the second to develop a program of financing a long term campus building program.

The selection of Robert E. Alexander to do the master plan came about from an exhibit he had at the State Superintendent's Conference being held in Long Beach. Dr. Peterson and I spent several hours viewing the exhibits and talking to architects. The man who seemed to have the most progressive ideas was Mr. Alexander. In addition to being alert to the problems of junior college education, he seemed willing to tackle the problem of evolving a master plan around, among and between army buildings, which would remain in use. After discussing the several exhibits and architects, Dr. Peterson decided to recommend Mr. Alexander to do the master plan for $4,000. The plan would include a number of buildings. If Mr. Alexander was employed to be the project architect, he would give a lump sum credit against the master plan amount on each building designed. The end result was that the master plan was given the college by Mr. Alexander.

Mr. Alexander approached the problem in a unique manner. He prepared a map of the campus showing the location of all the buildings. This was pasted to a piece of plywood. In addition, he prepared small blocks in scale to the map of the several buildings that would be needed for a campus of fifteen hundred students in fifteen years. It is significant that Dr. Peterson was criticized in some quarters for this extravagant estimate.

The buildings included by Dr. Peterson were based upon the courses to be housed as determined by the results of the community survey conducted by Dr. Thornton.

A guiding factor was that of keeping the college "housed" while new buildings were under construction. To effect this Mr. Alexander set up a seven year plan and a twenty year plan. The twenty year plan hangs in the board room of the Administration Building on the campus. A schedule of building based upon growth of the college and accumulation of funds was also worked out.

The master building plan for the Orange Coast College campus was evaluated by a faculty-board committee. This committee type of planning was continued for each new building. Dr. Peterson served as chairman for each project. When the plan was finally completed Mr. Alexander presented the maps to the Board at a meeting that lasted into the wee small hours. The Board and administration began to feel that a going concern was about to be established. Actually, the college was in full swing, with a student body organized and a football team. Home games were played alternately on the Newport Harbor and Huntington Beach high school fields.

With a master plan completed, the next step was financing. The Administration Council (Drs. Peterson, Thornton, Priest and 1) made the determination that a tax override was a better procedure than a bond election. With no interest payments to be made, all the money would go into building. Another factor that influenced the group was that a complete campus in a short time was not necessary, and that a tax override would only require a majority vote whereas a bond program would require a two-thirds majority. Dr. Peterson came up with the figure that a twenty-nine cent tax override for seven years would produce the necessary funds to complete a campus for 1,500 students. At the December 13, 1948 meeting of the Board of Trustees Dr. Peterson made some rather bold enrollment predictions. "Conservative estimates based on the present enrollments in high schools of the area indicate that the enrollment for 1949-50 will be 634 and in 1955 should be 770 and in 1960, the enrollment should approximate 900 students." A tax override election was subsequently made a part of the general school board election of 1949. A twenty-nine cent limit was decided upon rather than thirty or slightly more because of the psychological appeal of twenty-nine cents as a bargain figure.

With these decisions out of the way Dr. Peterson set about working toward a successful election. The first move was to present the idea to a Citizens Advisory Committee. Sixteen years later a number of these persons are still active members of the annual Citizens Advisory Committee.

Two questions arose at this meeting-the first, was it necessary to erect new buildings?-didn't we have plenty of buildings? Our answer was that there were plenty of buildings, but that they were not designed for a community college program and that maintenance would be a major factor.

A Citizens Advisory Building Committee was appointed to meet June 6, l 949 to advise the Board and Administration in problems having to do with the financing of a buildingprogram.

The second question was the one of bonds or tax override. Why shouldn't people coming to the area ten, fiftecn or twenty years later pay their share? The answer given by Dr. Peterson was that all the money collected from taxes should go into new buildings rather than a portion into interest as in the case of bonds. He even ventured to say that there would be building needs to be met then as well as now and that new residents would have plenty of opportunities to participate in building programs.

With a college enrollment of slightly more than five hundred students and a faculty of thirty it was possible to get pretty nearly everyone working on election committees. A bulletin of that period shows that there was wide and thorough coverage. The result of the election was a victory for the tax override-but the same vote would have resulted in a defeat for a bond election. Building planning could now go forward with confidence.

The college program that operated under the greatest handicap so far as building was concerned was the Technology group. Cy Rockey had personally put together a machine and welding shop in the kitchen area of the P.W. (Prisoner of War) mess hall. Not only had he done much of the physical labor to alter the kitchen part of the building to create a concrete-floored shop area, but he also purchased most of the machine tools, lathes, grinders, mills, etc., out of his own funds. At one time the college owed him in excess of ten thousand dollars for tools he had purchased at auction. The college is still on the Warshaw Auction Company mailing list.

Architectural drafting was in the west serving area of the same building. Engine mechanics was located in two service buildings to the east that (using sttldent labor under the direction of John Owens) had been connected by roof and walls. Petroleum technology was in a single service building across the street. Building trades were in two connected buildings west of the main mess hall.

Through the efforts of many, the air base carpentry shop tools were released to the college as a unit. These were the tools which made up the college building trades shop until the new facility was completed. Several of the pieces were still in use. The shops were so far removed from the central portion of the campus and so inadequately housed that they became known as "Outer Slavonia."

The Seven Year Building Program called for the completion of the Technology Building in September of 1950. The job had been let as a single contract except for the high voltage transformers and distribution system, which was left out because there wasn't cash available in the 1949-50 tax year to pay for the work. This was the first "contract segregation" to be undertaken (a financing maneuver).

As the work progressed, building trouble arose with two subcontractors. l n the first case the plumbing sub-contractor threatened to move off the job because he wasn't being paid. The district was helpless to aid him because progress payments were being made to the general contractor.

The second similar problem was when the electrical installation subcontractor stopped work-he too wasn't being paid. He suggested that the future bids be segregated as to trades so that the so called subcontractors could bid as prime contractors. He told us, "We could bid the job for less to the college because we would be assured of our progress payments as they come due."

With the exception of a remodel job and the first bidding on the Library Building all of the college construction work has been on a segreg.ltcd basis. That thaw has becn a savings is evident in the fact that it was possible to include a half million dollar Science Building out of the 29c tax override. It is recognized, of course, that part of talc funds calllc Irolll the incrc.lsed assessed valuation.

The Library job was bid as a single contract. The bids were some $50,000 more than the architect's estimate. When they were analyzed, it was evident that the electric bid was considerably in excess of the engineer's estimate. Ten feet were cut off both ends of the building and the job re-bid on a segregated basis. The new bids were well below the architect's estimate- and the segregated electrical less than half, even though the only electrical change was two banks of fluorescent fixtures.

A valuable outcome of using segregated bids has been that most of the jobs have been done by local firms. This has meant that the tax money expended has remained within the area. Having local contractors has made it practical for the college to have the maintenance work done by the initial contractor. Pride in doing a job that does not need to be repaired has been a valuable asset.

In using segregated bids each "sub" bidder becomes a prime contractor posting bond and operating directly with the school board. As the building is completed a Notice of Completion is filed for each prime contractor. On more than one occasion everyone has been paid in full except a single "sub" such as electrical, audio, plumbing, etc. In each instance it has been possible for the college to use the new building before the last contractor has been finished. Building over a period of years has also made it possible for the smaller, local firms to participate. Only three jobs have been done by a "general" out of the area: technology, auditorium, and science.

Extending the building program over a period of years has not all been a blessing. There has hardly been a time when there wasn't an open ditch or construction project. On one occasion, after a very heavy rain when the open ditches looked like the surrounding area, all under water and poorly lighted, an evening college student took a short cut out from the middle parking lot and stepped into a three foot hole of water. Her anger by the time she arrived at the evening college office had practically dried her clothes, if not her temper.

One of the major improvements of the campus was to put the power lines underground. The first unit was installed in aluminum. Copper wire was still at a premium. This coupled with the sales promotion of the aluminum industry prompted the electrical engineer to recommend aluminum cable. Until the splices began to deteriorate the installation was a success. There were minor outages until one evening Dr. Peterson was hosting his Lions Club in the college cafeteria and the current went off. This was probably the only time a Lions Club meal was served by candlelight- even in the kitchen. Fortunately the gymnasium was not affected, so the basketball game for which the meal was held could be played.

The Lions Club candlelight supper was not quite as catastrophic as the night the stadium lights started dimming-a third of all the lamps finally dimming to a faint glow. Dr. Peterson's instructions were, "Do something!" After getting a representative of the Edison Company and a repair man from the E. D. Johnson Company out during the game-neither with any idea of what to do-we finished the game.

The only time in all the years of football games that I started home going north on Fairview in order to pick up my son at the South Coast rifle range, I discovered the transformer on top of the upholstery building on fire. Our campus fire crew had an opportunity to "handle a hot one."

It was after this experience that a second underground system was installed so that should one system cut out, a transfer could be made to the other system. Within a few months it was evident that the aluminum system would have to be replaced with copper if there was to be a parallel system that could be depended upon. This was an expensive repair.

As more buildings were added to the system it became evident that a single line could not handle the entire campus. What had been designed as a parallel underground electrical system evolved into two systems each serving a portion of the campus. Any outage leaves a part of the campus without energy. We can always know that the longer we have gone without an outage the sooner we will be in the dark.

The Seven Year Program wasn't completed before it was evident that more buildings would be required. Financing for building purposes became less critical with the passage of the Murdy bill, giving the college district of attendance $300 for out-of-district students in addition to actual cost of instruction. Over the years this source of revenue produced no less than $300,000 annually. In order to construct the auditorium, science building and gymnasium, funds were accumulated over a two-year period. These times of no construction were welcome relief from the earlier year in year out construction.

Any building program has day by day problems. These are expected and handled as they develop. The Orange Coast College campus has had a few rather unusual situations. When the Student Center Building was being enlarged, some tradesmen turned a ceiling trough light into the celotex wall instead of into the trough opening, thus starting a fire during the noon hour. Fortunately some of the tradesmen were eating their lunch in the vacated building and put the fire out before the damage had extended over more than three or four blocks of ceiling tile.

A certain plumber had to do some explaining-and altering of connections - when all the water came hot even in the drinking fountains.

During the addition to the Library Reading Room the carpenter foreman for A. D. Penhall was working on the roof. He became so interested in observing a shapely co-ed walking by that he walked off the top of the building. Fortunately, he fell on a pile of sand so that his only injury was one of embarrassment.

There have been two major fires at Orange Coast College-both incendiary. The first was the burning of the Memorial Chapel. The fire bug was apprehended in an attempt to burn an oil tank in Huntington Beach. The building had taken on considerable tradition. Burial services for a student and football star, Rod Gould, who lost his life in an automobile accident on Newport Boulevard, had been held there. Dr. Giles Brown (social science division chairman) and Beth Cosner (librarian) had there become Dr. and Mrs. Mr. Herold Deardorff and Audrey Grey (the latter the O.C.C. accountant) had also been married in the chapel.

The building was a total loss-the campus fire crew as well as the Costa Mesa fire team succeeded in putting out the fire, but only after the building was gutted. The inspectors for the division of architecture ordered the burned shell demolished.

A policy of the college district had been to maintain a current insurance appraisal at a cost of two thousand dollars a year. There had been concern at one time or another as to whether this was necessary. Likewise the concept of the Orange Coast Insurance Associates had been questioned. Up to the burning of the chapel there had been no situation testing the merits of either the appraisal or the association. The test came as a by-product of the fire.

At the request of the Broker of Records of the Insurance Associates a conference was held which included a team of three adjusters, the broker of records, Mr. M. Renfro and myself. A spokesman for the adjuster group explained the method of evaluation they were following and made a settlement offer. The writer turned to the page in the Marshall Stevens appraisal to find that there was less than two hundred dollars difference between the appraisal and the offer-the offer being the greater. The only question that arose had to do with inventory of furniture - there being less furniture in the building than listed in the insurance appraisal. This was quickly adjusted by accepting the count of the charred pieces. An amount of $4,000 was withheld until the building was replaced - which was done in the erection of the Forum. A bronze plaque at the entry reads: THIS BUILDING IS A MEMORIAL TO VETERANS OF WORLD WAR II.

The second major fire was that of the hay in the Feed Mill. This fire was set about noon-and the fire bug was promptly apprehended by college personnel. It was a smoky affair-and generated considerable heat. The college grounds and custodial employees, several students and the Costa Mesa Fire Department were able to remove the sixty tons of baled hay, much of it burning, and thus save the building.

This claim was settled without a conference. The hay had a value of $24 per ton-full payment was made. By agreement with the college, the adjuster secured a contractor to place the building in "like original" condition. The college simply signed a release from any further claim for the loss. These two experiences were proof evident that a regular insurance appraisal was a sound investment and that having only one person with whom to deal in insurance matters was expedient and effective.

The original master plan had a location for an outside theater as part of the regular theater-auditorium. The outdoor area would be a half saucer with the stage as the loading area or backstage of the Auditorium. Two full-height doors would roll back to make a stage opening. Since it would take a large quantity of dirt to build a raised seating area for two thousand persons we began to have all excess "clean" dirt that accumulated on the campus from building projects piled back of the auditorium. Over the years the pile became known as "Kimes Hill." Not only was it a convenient storage place for excess dirt (it is very unlikely that there will ever be an outdoor theater) but it is an excellent laboratory. Students in Agriculture doing field work with a bulldozer, etc., are required to spend six hours moving dirt and smoothing portions of the hill. The surveying class has a convenient hill to map. One of the engineering mathematics instructors has used the hill for determining problems of dirt moving, etc. While the future of the outdoor theater may be in doubt, the need for the dirt isn't. There will come a time when the stadium seating will need to be enlarged-and Kimes Fill will find a permanent place on the Orange Coast College campus.

At the opening faculty meeting in September 1948, one of the persons who extended greetings to Orange Coast College and staff was Superintendent Ray Elliott of the Huntington Beach High School District. He concluded his remarks by presenting a bottle of aspirin to me with the comment, "I'm certain you will have need of these on many occasions." The empty bottle is in my desk as a reminder of Mr. Elliott's many favors to the college and to me. With the start he andothers gave the institution, it only remained for Dr. Peterson and the rest of us to continue the momentum.

Since the Technology Building was completed September 10, 1949, there hasn't been a year in the life of Orange Coast College that there was not some construction. The planning, bidding and letting of construction contracts has been a regular annual procedure, a program still going on as this is being written in l9G4. The end is not in sight.

With the exception of its Science Hall, no building has been completed ahead of the hour classes were scheduled to start in it-some buildings were not completed as scheduled. This has added to the last minute urgencies of opening the show. It was at the Technology Building that the custodial crew worked all night cleaning, moving furniture and getting ready for Monday morning classes. As I walked over to the building at 7:30 in the morning the custodial staff and student helpers were coming over to the cafeteria for breakfast, a smile on every face because they had completed the job before the 8:00 o'clock class.

During the summer that the Administration Building was brought up to code the activities of that building were transferred to the Gymnasium. Dr. Peterson's office was moved into Mr. Pickens' office-Dr. Thornton's was the adjoining office. There was an opening in the wall for a telephone between the two offices..

During this period the business office was located in the "small gym," all in one room. The PBX was shifted to a small wooden structure just outside the administration building so that new telephone cables would not be required. At times the PBX operator had to climb over lumber and jump ditches to get to her station.

Construction on the Stadium started late. Some of the lost time was being picked up during the excavation and dirt-piling stage, but then an error was discovered. A rough check by the building inspector seemed to indicate that the east bank was out of bounds. A check by the surveyor located a ten foot error. This meant that the contractor had to remove the east bank and start over with grading and compacting.

Finally the stadium was ready for planting early in May. The day after the planting we had one of the heaviest rains recorded for years and the seed for the ground cover was washed to the north end of the field. As soon as the planting area was dry, a second planting was made. This was followed by another rain. It was now almost June 1st. It was too late to plant a third time and have a turf by mid September. Fortunately, the two plantings had left sufficient seed so that there was a fair stand on the playing field and a lush growth at the north end where the stadium drainage had deposited the seed.

As the time for dedication of the Stadium drew nearer it was evident that there would not be a beautiful green carpet as Dr. Peterson had requested. The only solution was to dye the grass a lush green. The estimate for the needed dye was short by ten yards so that a second hurried trip to Los Angeles had to be made. The garden crew was spraying the last coloring on as the first spectators arrived. They saw a lush beautiful green turf.

A top level conference was hurriedly called when I discovered that the contractor was evacuating a four foot pit for the new Gymnasium. The playing floor level would be at least one foot below the outside grade. With all of the practice football playing field draining toward the Gymnasium this would never do. Our strong protests to the architect prompted him to raise the floor of the Gymnasium a foot over the original drawings. This was just one of the many delays on the completion of the Gymnasium.

Coach Alan Sawyer had scheduled the State Junior College Basketball tournament in the new Gymnasium-almost two years in advance. The complications of practicing on the old Gym floor during the slow progress of the new Gymnasium-crossing mud flats to arrive at the men's dressing room were trying, but mitigated by the assurance of better days ahead. The state finals were played on the new floor- with np parking in front of the new building-only mud and a partially moved old Gymnasium.

Nineteen of the original seventy six army buildings still remain on the campus. With the exception of the Upholstery Building these are "temporary structures." While it will probably take another fifteen years to completely discard the old structures, the time will come when all of the students will be housed in structures erected since Scptcmber, 1950. During this thirty year period many of the original new structures will have been remodeled and added on to. This has been part of the original master plan, to make the building flexible so that changes in enrollment and curriculum could be met.

At this writing it is a guess as to what building will be the last to be replaced. The Upholstery Building is considered relatively permanent, having been remodeled to meet the several codes and equipped with sprinklers throughout.

Plans call for parking where the present Nursery Building and Administration Building stand. A new Administration Building will be erected on the site of the present General Education Building. The need to move the maintenance area buildings closer to the campus buildings is becoming more and more evident. Then, too, the maintenance area site is becoming valuable property which could well net the college funds for an additional building. The barracks buildings have never been satisfactory as warehouses, both as to location or floor space. A new warehouse area is planned within the new administration complex.

The years of Dr. Peterson's planning and working produced a campus that has been both flexible and functional. Its completion seems a long way in the future, but with each generation of community college students the final aspect of our campus becomes more and more discernible. One day the project will be completed and only the memories of the students and faculty of its first term of 1948-49 will recall the army buildings that made possible a great institution.

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