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Southwestern Oregon Community College urges $250,000 for Tioga Hall elevator modernization
Summary
Southwestern Oregon Community College officials told the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development that Tioga Hall’s two aging elevators frequently fail and requested a $250,000 appropriation in House Bill 3,618 to modernize the equipment.
Southwestern Oregon Community College officials and community partners told the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development during a public hearing that Tioga Hall’s two aging elevators require modernization to maintain access to library services, tutoring, classrooms and the college’s administrative functions.
Representative Boomer Wright, sponsor of House Bill 3,618, told the committee the bill "appropriates money from the general fund for the Higher Education Coordinating Commission for distribution to Southern Oregon Community College to repair elevators at Tioga Hall." Patty Scott, president of Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, said Tioga Hall is a five‑story building used daily by an estimated 1,000 people and described repeated elevator outages that hamper donors, job candidates and board and community meetings. Scott said the college estimates a $250,000 modernization would add roughly 20 years of life to the elevators and give time to plan for larger deferred‑maintenance needs.
Susan Anderson, a member of Southwestern’s board of education, told the committee that both elevators were rated high need for modernization and said "on average, 955 staff, students and community members use these elevators weekly." Instructor Kristin Hovancottir Greco and other staff said the Third Floor (tutoring, GED and ESL) serves hundreds of students daily and that elevator outages have led to students being trapped and to services being forced online when elevator repairs take days.
Committee members asked about accessibility and the current working condition of the elevators; college witnesses said the elevators currently operate but frequently require repairs and that long response times for technicians in rural Coos Bay complicate extended outages. Representative Wright said he filed both a bill and a capital construction request as parallel avenues to secure funding.
No committee vote was taken during the hearing; the committee closed the public hearing and moved on to later agenda items.
