Collin College turns natatorium into kitchen
June 17, 2009 - Tonie Auer

By Tonie Auer
Special to the Business Press

Construction wraps up this summer on the $3.5 million conversion of the natatorium into the culinary arts building to house the Hospitality and Food Service Management classes for the Collin College Preston Ridge campus.
Dallas-based Corgan Associates Inc. was tasked with redesigning the existing natatorium to house the school’s culinary program, which had been using one small kitchen in Allen High School.

So, the benefits are dual for the campus: improved facilities to expand the culinary program and the ability to convert a little-used facility into something useful and cost effective, said Toni Jenkins, vice president and provost of the Preston Ridge campus of Collin County Community College.

“The city of Frisco built a natatorium and we, consequently, have had fewer community needs for ours since then,” Jenkins said. “Plus, it was costing us about a half-million dollars every few years to keep the facility up to date and operating properly. So, we opted to turn it into a more productive asset and converted the space to accommodate this program.”

Jenkins said one of the biggest benefits of the conversion project — from an operational standpoint — was taking an asset that was beginning to drain resources with the upkeep and renovations required to maintain the

Olympic-size pool and turning it into something that will benefit students and the greater community.

“This gives us the opportunity to move out Allen High School. They have one kitchen that we have used for the last nine to 10 years. This gave us an opportunity to bring the program on campus and expand it dramatically,” Jenkins said. “We will have three full kitchens and one classroom that will double as a restaurant. This will enhance storage and food preparation, too.”

The project’s designer David Zatopek, vice president of Corgan Associates Inc., said leaders at the college recognized they needed to expand the culinary arts program and the natatorium needed extensive improvements for which the cost couldn’t justify the limited use the facility was getting.

“The area was right for the culinary arts program and the leaders at Collin Community College were able to realize savings and provide a value to the community,” Zatopek said.

Corgan has been a part of the project for two years, he said. The first year was used to study the viability of the concept and adapting systems to support the kitchen.

Construction started about eight months ago with Dallas-based Hunt Construction as the construction manager at risk on a fast-track building schedule. The almost 10,000-square-foot facility is slated to open by July with an open house slated for August.

Zatopek said part of the value in redesigning the natatorium was the fact that they could recycle an existing building rather than building a new structure.

“We were able to do that and use the space where the pool had occupied to place all of the plumbing without having to jackhammer and start from scratch,” he said. “We also worked with Karen Musa, program chair for the Hospitality & Food Service Management, to outline what the elements of the kitchen should include as well as the equipment needs. We had to balance the budget while creating the types of places where students will go to work.”

One of the challenges in the design was to create an adequate teaching kitchen, which needs extra space so multiple students can watch demonstrations, Zatopek said.

“A culinary arts kitchen is like an artist’s studio because they engage in technical skills, but it is also an art,” Zatopek said. “We had to incorporate technology, but also the design of the space to meet health, safety and code regulations and make it a learning lab.”

The new facility will host its first round of classes this fall.

“There is a tremendous demand for food service and the hospitality industry and expectations for culinary experience are continuing to rise,” Zatopek said.

Jenkins said the college’s Hospitality and Food Service Management program has recently added a pastry certification in addition to a number of other culinary certificates and three different associate’s degrees in culinary arts.

“(With the new facilities) we are able to expand the curriculum to meet the needs of our community,” she said.

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