American River College in recent years has transformed its campus. In addition to the Diane Bryant STEM Innovation Center which opened in fall 2021, the Technical Education Building, opened up this April. These new additions have allowed the campus to look more state of the art and modernized. However, despite the recent renovations made, ARC still has a lot of work to do with several other buildings on campus. One of the buildings that ARC should look into updating is Raef Hall. The closure of Davies Hall in 2023 gives all the more reason for ARC to create more space on campus. A complete revamp of Raef Hall will give that space with additional classrooms.
ARC has made plans in the past to update certain buildings on campus. On September 20, 2019, ARC revealed a plan to modernize several buildings on campus. The buildings included in this plan were Davies Hall which is now closed, the Science & Engineering building, and Raef Hall. ARC could have benefitted from a complete renovation of all three. However, fast forward to 2025 and nothing of this plan has come to fruition. Those plans have either been postponed, cancelled or completely forgotten about.
The overall design and layout of Raef Hall does not fit the overall goals and aspirations that ARC has set when opening both the Technical Education Building and the STEM Innovation Center. Unlike Raef Hall, the more recent additions to campus represent the start of a modernized and innovative version of ARC. The STEM Innovation Center in particular, has allowed for more classrooms, which means there’s less of a chance for students to get waitlisted in those respected majors and classes that occupy the building.
Classrooms inside Raef Hall offer plenty of seats and space for a large number of students in a class. But there are only a handful of classrooms. A complete revamp of Raef Hall with a similar look to the STEM Innovation Center will benefit many students who enjoy having classes on campus. The revamp could still occupy the same space that Raef Hall currently occupies but develop into two or three stories. This will allow for more classrooms and will improve the overall look of the campus.
The new and improved version of Raef Hall can cater towards specific majors and careers like art, anthropology, and a variety of others just like how Business and Computer Science majors occupy the Stem Innovation Center. This will also allow classes to be more organized and take place in certain buildings on campus because classes and classrooms have been scattered all over campus ever since the closure of Davies Hall.
Overall, a renovated Raef Hall will bring a lot of good to ARC, its campus, and the students that enjoy going to campus in person. Whether or not ARC is still serious about the 2019 plans, it should be in consideration the benefits and the overall transformation that a new Raef Hall will bring to campus.
