New plans also include an 18,000 square foot Conference Center as part of project that will compete with private resorts and public centers for business: College already has spent $5.8 million improving Prescott Valley Center in 2017; plus unknown amounts in 2019 and 2023 to purchase land and complete phase 2 of its expansion
In November 2022, Yavapai Community College executives presented a list of possible projects to the residents of Yavapai County and the District Governing Board, one of which involved expanding the Health Sciences Center now located at the Prescott Valley Campus. The experts estimated the project construction to cost about $14.52 million. The District Governing Board approved the request in concept, except for the Third District’s representative at the time, Mr. Paul Chevalier.
Since 2017 the Community College has been spending millions to upgrade the existing Prescott Valley Center. It completed a $5.8 million dollar phase one construction project at the Center in 2017. Between then and 2023, additional hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on phase two of renovation and improvements along with land acquisition.
The new Health Sciences project was scheduled to begin in 2026 but has been move ahead two years.
It is noteworthy to observe that less than 12 months after the November 2022 concept approval, the College has unveiled its actual plans for the Health Sciences Center. These include an 18,000 square foot conference center on the third floor. The total cost of the project has increased to $39 million, with $9 million allocated for the conference center. The College suggests that it may obtain funding assistance from the state and federal governments for the project.
When the Community College announced its $39 million project in October 2023 some County residents pondered whether they may have been intentionally misled by the November 2022 presentation and the $14.52 price tag, only to discover eleven months later that the College was now intending a $39 million dollar project. Other community members are also questioning the wisdom of adding a conference center as a part of the Health Sciences building for an estimated $9 million that may directly compete with private resorts and small cities for conference business. That idea for a conference center does not appear in the Master Plan and was not discussed in November 2022 when the concept was approved.
However, residents’ concerns will have little or no impact. Residents have learned that incredible differences in estimates and actual construction mean little to a sleepy District Governing Board dominated by west county politicos. They will essentially rubber-stamp whatever the College brings forth when it asks for final approval of a project on the west side of Mingus Mountain.
In one sense, the District Governing Board’s approval process for College projects is like a train that has already left the station. Residents’ concerns are akin to a small pebble on the tracks that the train will simply pass over. The train’s destination is predetermined, and the Board’s approval is a mere formality. Moreover, there is never any serious follow-up by the Board on such projects.
The firing of Dennis Howard in March deeply disturbed the local tennis community. Howard, a revered coach at Yavapai Community College, was dismissed for reportedly breaching a College policy. He had gone to the College’s tennis complex on snow days to check its condition while the Campus was officially closed. As a result of this infraction, the dedicated coach was fired and also prohibited from accessing the College’s tennis courts for several months
he 14th annual Wine & Dine fundraiser was held Saturday evening, October 21 on the Verde Valley Campus in Clarkdale. The event, which was begun back in 2009 by the Greater Verde Valley Chapter of the Yavapai Community College Foundation and later carried on by the Southwest Wine Center Board, was very successful. It drew a capacity crowd with an estimated $50,000 received in donations.
During the Yavapai Community College District Governing Board meeting held on October 16, 2023, it was revealed that a substantial gift was made to the Athletic Department a year earlier. In 2022, a benefactor generously established an endowment of $1.2 million to support the Department.
It is truly astonishing that the trailer park was situated in such close proximity to the backyards of private homes in Clarkdale. This location choice appears both puzzling and, at worst, ignorant. There were clearly numerous readily accessible vacant acres on the Campus far from the neighborhood, which if chosen would have had no adverse impact on the lives of Clarkdale residents.
recently appointed executive leaders. He takes over the position previously held by Dr. Diane Ryan, who resigned in June. Notably, Dr. Ryan was designated as a “Vice President” within the College’s administrative structure, despite her responsibilities seeming quite similar to those now assumed by Doug Berry. The reason for this title change remains unclear.