Editorial: COM’s upgrades are symbol of continued commitment

College of Marin’s renaissance has reached an impressive milestone with the opening of a new student hub and architectural centerpiece of its Kentfield campus.

It is a fitting addition, marking the community college’s 100th anniversary.

The Dr. David Wain Coon Center for Student Success is a stunning $86 million three-story building that brings together the campus’ new library, a cafe and lounge, 10 classrooms, a computer lab and career center, wellness support services, a large event space and numerous areas for student programs.

The center already is a hive of campus activity and learning, bringing together programs and services that had been spread across the Kentfield campus both before and because of construction.

It replaces the old student center that stood in the center of the Kentfield campus for 50 years.

It is also the last major new construction through Measure B, the 2016 voter-approved bond that has paid for numerous new facilities, repairs and renovations of COM’s campuses in Kentfield and Novato and its marine biology laboratory in Bolinas.

The new center is named for David Wain Coon, who served as COM’s president from 2010 to 2023 and led the capital overhaul of the campuses.

Its large bank of windows and large outdoor deck take advantage of its location’s stellar views of Mount Tamalpais.

Its builder was Richmond-based Alten Construction, whose owners are longtime members of the Marin community.

“This project was incredibly meaningful to our entire team,” the firm’s co-owner, Bob Alten, said. “The College of Marin is a cornerstone of the community and delivering this project during its 100-year anniversary makes it much more memorable,” stressing the project was completed “on time and on budget.”

The bond measure, the second approved by voters, was a sign of the importance and support that Marin residents put in education and their community college.

In recent years, COM has seen a steady increase in enrollment, growing to 7,000 students, full- and part-time, credit and non-credit. That’s a lot of growth since 1926 when 80 junior college students were taking classes in the house of what was Kentfield’s George E. Butler estate.

Its campuses have long had the reputation of having the highest University of California transfer rate among Northern California’s community colleges.

It is also an important hub for students seeking workforce education and training, such as nursing, child care, law enforcement and medical technology.

The center joins an impressive list of significant capital improvements made to both the Kentfield and Indian Valley campuses, including IVC’s Bill and Adele Jonas Center and its new aquatic center. That list also includes the new Bolinas marine lab, replacing the long-shuttered coastal lab and a rare and attractive academic offering for any community college.

COM leaders hope the new Kentfield center becomes a community hub, not only for students but for Marin residents.

COM President Jonathan Eldridge calls the new center “the living room of the community.”

In its history, COM has been a venue for educational, entertainment and artistic events, especially during the 1970s and 1980s when it hosted hundreds of residents to hear nationally known speakers bringing Broadway musicals to Kentfield’s stage. The new center could help revive COM’s role as a community hub.

It certainly is a building that marks the promise and success of the 2016 bond and voters’ strong support and an educational legacy that is headed into its second century.