BC History Highlight: Weill Institute

Memoirs of the Bakersfield College Downtown Center

By Dr. Chuck Carlson

The Bakersfield College Downtown Center (DTC) came into being when Fedway Department store closed at 21st and Chester Avenue in Downtown Bakersfield. The Kern Community College District was looking for new offices, and Bakersfield College was working to enlarge its programs in occupational areas, particularly in the Business Education area. KCCD then proceeded to purchase the building (1972-73) and hired the firm of Bigger and Cartnal to design and lead the remodeling of the building. Bakersfield College started working on the programs that would be transferred to or developed at the new downtown campus. We were very interested in working with downtown businesses and government agencies in developing our programs. One of the leading program changes made was the development of a new open-entry, open-exit business program. This was a new approach around the state, but one strongly supported by local business groups. “Open-entry and open-exit classes” meant classes that students could enter and exit at any time. This was very important for businesses, as they then could refer job applicants who were not quite at the competency level they wanted but who could become so with a little class work. They could also take promotional competency tests any time during the year. It also meant prospective students would not have to wait until the beginning of a new semester to begin their classes. Along with this approach came a new architectural emphasis in designing many of the classroom areas as open-space areas. This meant there would be no classrooms in the Business Department, for example, only areas divided by movable wall panels, which are so common in businesses today. This was truly a radical change for the Business Department, its faculty, and Bakersfield College. This new approach became very popular with business and government agencies, and the DTC became the center for job entry competency testing for new hires and promotions throughout the Bakersfield area, in addition to a lot of in-service training, etc. Also added were several new programs, such as Court Reporting and Modeling. Included on the ground floor was an administrative area and a large lecture room which could, in turn, be divided up into four smaller lecture areas as needed. The remaining space on the ground floor was developed into a state-of-the-art Electronics Center, and that program moved from the main campus to the DTC. The second floor was not developed by BC at this time, but the KCCD moved into the west side of the second floor. These programs were very successful and continued to grow until the passage of Proposition 13, which caused BC to reduce staff and programs. Other activities and programs have been located at the DTC throughout the years, and the Center also changed its name to The Weill Institute, thanks to a generous financial contribution to the College.

By Dr. John J. Collins

At the same April Board meeting in 1972, as I was hired to become the fifth President of Bakersfield College, the Board also took action to establish the Downtown Center to be housed in the old Fedway Department Store Building, where it remains thirty-six years later. Having a downtown campus of Bakersfield College was a dream of Ed Simonsen, the third President of the College, and by 1972, the first Chancellor of the Kern Community College District. He was committed to the concept of taking the college to where the people lived or worked. In this case, he viewed a fairly large population of workers who were employed downtown as potential students. Back in those days, before the establishment and growth of shopping malls, what we now still call downtown Bakersfield truly employed thousands of workers, was the civic center of the town, and a fairly large population worked in the shops and offices located there. The new Downtown Center was located right in the heart of downtown Bakersfield, giving Bakersfield College the presence it wanted. As Dr. Charles Carlson, the first Dean of the Downtown Center, has described in the adjoining article, the College set out to try to accommodate the working population of downtown by offering short term, open entry/open exit classes in business, management, basic skills, and the new field of computer science, as it was called back in those years, long before computers appeared on every desk in business establishments, legal offices, government centers, and colleges. Open entry/open exit classes, and open space for classrooms were a little revolutionary for both teaching staff and students, and it wasn’t long before more conventional offerings were added to the curriculum, and the open spaces came to be enclosed. Tradition is a powerful force in education, and not to be taken lightly by administrators or faculty who want to try something different. In all of this development, Ed Simonsen was a major player. He strongly supported the Downtown Center, moved the district offices onto the second floor, held all Board meetings there, and viewed it as the center of the district operation. Changing conditions in the downtown area have moved the center of activities to Truxtun Avenue near the courts and legal offices. Retailing has mainly moved to the shopping malls. And the Downtown Center has branched out into contract education, serving businesses with custom offerings that meet their particular needs, and for which they pay the costs. That the Downtown Center is still functioning, albeit with a different curriculum, is a good sign of the flexibility of education, meeting changing needs with changing offerings. Bakersfield College is, and has been, committed to serving large numbers of students who are interested in moving on to four-year colleges and universities, or providing the training leading to employment in business and industry at a demanding skill level or in the burgeoning field of technology. The Downtown Center is part of the history of Bakersfield College and is still giving students the boost they need to better themselves.