Since it’s closing a few semesters ago, the old library at Moorpark college’s future has been cast into the shadows. Many rumors swirled and the building continued to sit vacant.

A one-stop-shop for student services is part of the plan for the new Fountain Hall, which opens Fall 2007 after an $8 million renovation.

Although the former library, across from the current Library/Learning Resources building (LLR), will serve primarily as classroom space for the first three years.

Moorpark College President Dr. Eva Conrad said that the ultimate goal is to make the building a center for student services.

“The most innovative part of the building is the part that is called the atrium in the center of the building,” Conrad said. “And we are converting that into a welcome center. Representatives of all of our college’s student services will be in that area, and students will always know where to go to get help.”

In addition to student services, students and visitors will be able to use the welcome center to get general information about the school, directions, and admissions information.

The renovation, paid for by the public-approved Measure S bond funding, is part of a campus-wide update.

“We realized, of course, that we couldn’t keep calling it the former library,” said Conrad, “That had no zing to it at all.”

Instead, the Campus Environment Committee, which oversees the aesthetics of the campus, debated a list of several names based on the building’s location, function, and other references.

The top four choices were: Fountain Hall, Central Hall, North Hall, and Raider Hall. These options were sent to Conrad, who made the final decision. “Part of what we want to do is create a main entrance to the campus,” said Conrad.

“The fountain, which was intended to be the first sight you would see, welcoming you to the campus, will indeed be the first thing you see. ‘Fountain Hall.’ “If I say to you, ‘One of the other ideas was North Hall,’ you may say, ‘Well, where the heck is that,'” Conrad said.

“No one’s going to be confused by ‘Fountain Hall.'” Much of the building has been gutted out. John Sinutko, the director of maintenance and operations for Moorpark College, said that virtually everything on the first floor has been taken out, except for the stairwells, elevator, and the mechanical room.

The majority of the space, aside from the welcome center and a few faculty offices, will be converted to “smart classrooms.”

These rooms will incorporate technologies that allow instructors to teach using electronic media.

Most classrooms will be large enough to accommodate up to 50 students.

In total, there will be 44,000 square feet of classroom space available.

In addition, the heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems, and electrical wiring have been updated.

The bathrooms on both floors have also been significantly expanded. Although the building won’t open for several months, the building is making great progress. “I think they’re getting ready to start painting, putting on the interior finishes,” Sinutko said. Ray Di Guilio, the vice president of business services, oversees all facilities programs in progress on campus. Di Gulio said the Fountain Hall renovation is part of the plan to update the campus.

Once this renovation is complete, demolition and construction can begin on the next project, the Academic Center. The Academic Center will replace the F Trailers near the south end of the campus. “There’s kind of a long-term thinking and a sequencing of how to go through these construction projects when you can’t simply shut down the organization and [have] everybody go away for three years,” Di Guilio said.