HSS & Quad Dedication Ceremony

If two years ago Santa Monica College campus looked more like a high school, today it resembles a miniature university. The school will hold a ceremony to celebrate its makeover on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 3 p.m. on the Quad. The ceremony will feature brief remarks by SMC officials, as well as a site specific dance by members of the college's Synapse Dance Theater, according to the press release from Bruce Smith, SMC public information officer.

The campus includes the contemporary-looking LEED silver certified Humanities & Social Science Building, plenty of open space to hold outdoor entertainment events, and fountains to rival UCLA's.

The HSS building, designed by renowned architects, is meant to replace the old and damaged Liberal Arts building. The complex houses the history, social science and psychology departments, and presents a welcome alternative to the L.A. building and its shortcomings, familiar to many students.

The new Quad, with its famous palm trees, is a great success with SMC students and faculty, according to Greg Brown, director of facilities planning. The majority of the funding from the projects came from the City of Santa Monica Earthquake Redevelopment Project and the 2002 Bond Measure U.