ThStarting July 11, the Mt. Hood Community College campus will be closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays – a closure that will continue through Sept. 4 and, administrators hope, will save the college money.

“Primarily what’s going to be closed is the main Gresham campus for the most part, excluding areas such as the gymnasium, the radio station [and] the aquatics center,” said Al Sigala, spokesman for MHCC.

According to an all-staff email, building and parking lot lights will remain off, some parking lot entrances will be blocked during the day and all lots will be closed during the evening and restrooms will be locked during the closure.

Sigala said The Bruning Center, a building recently built for students in the nursing program, “is going to stay open,” citing the college’s increased efforts to raise the number of students “that we’re producing for nursing – that’s going to require us to hold those classes.”

Sigala said the Maywood Park camus of MHCC will remain open.

During the closure, computer labs will be locked, though log-in is still available.
Beginning June 20, MHCC’s library will be closed Friday through Sunday.

Sigala said, “You know, you’re shutting down the power, you’re shutting down the…you’re not going to be using power…you’re shutting down, in this case, the cooling system for the summer, so you won’t have those costs incurred. And that affects the computer labs. It affects the library.”

MHCC, along with most Oregon colleges, is anticipating state cutbacks in the millions during the next biennium, a fear that prompted the elimination of five programs two weeks ago, an anxiety the Silverman Administration expects will reinvigorate the elimination list soon.

MHCC hopes to see $2,000 savings per day the college is closed.

“The savings will not be overwhelming savings, but it is a little,” said Sigala.

Sigala said the savings are “significant when you look at the bigger picture.”

“The total amount of dollars may not be that great as compared to the problems that we’re facing, but at least we’re doing something. At least we are going to see some sort of savings and that’s the situation we’re into in these budgetary times – you’ve got to save where you can,” added Sigala.

“I think also in the past what we’ve seen is very few Friday classes anyway,” said Sigala, “So, taking that into consideration, [the closure] just makes sense at this point.”

Sigala said the college is not anticipating proposing another bond anytime soon to help with expenses.