Westmont Magazine A Masterful Plan

When President Winter talks about his vision for Westmont’s future, he emphasizes the importance of completing the campus.

The college received permission to increase enrollment to 1,200 in 1976, and the county approved a master plan with numerous new buildings to accommodate the additional students.

Westmont reached its maximum size nearly 15 years ago, but has only constructed a few of these facilities. Other priorities, such as the faculty housing project, intervened.

But the time has come to build out the campus and provide first-rate classrooms, labs, and offices for our 1,200 students and faculty. Lack of space creates serious challenges for departments such as art, physics, and psychology.

Several years ago, college officials undertook a lengthy and careful planning process to identify Westmont’s future priorities.

The updated master plan grew out of this effort. It takes a new approach to organizing the campus by creating an academic center around the library, a student center based at the dining commons, and residential areas at the top and bottom of campus. The revised document also considers environmental constraints and preserves existing groves and open spaces.

Once the county has approved the plan, construction will begin on two facilities, a center for the visual arts and a science classroom building. Efforts to raise funds for these buildings (as well as for a new track and soccer field) are progressing well, and should be complete by the time the county acts on the plan.