North Bay Business Journal

ROHNERT PARK — Efforts continue to secure full funding for constructing an outdoor pavilion at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center, one of a number of construction projects at the school that include a new student center that is nearing completion, according to the university.

SANTA ROSA — Wells Fargo Center for the Arts today announced plans for a four-part, $10 million upgrade project to improve patron and artist experience, increase accessibility and provide greater flexibility at the 31-year old center.

ROHNERT PARK — Nearly eight years in the making, Sonoma State University plans to open the doors of a three-story, 130,000-square-foot student center this August, creating a central hub for student activity and providing the largest conference and event space in Sonoma County.

SANTA ROSA — The new Roseland Creek Elementary School opened its doors for the first time on Aug. 20 to welcome 400 students for the fall semester.

KENTFIELD — A series of new construction, renovation and modernization projects has been under way for several years on the College of Marin campus in Kentfield.

SONOMA – When Sarah and Darius Anderson bought the Ramekins Culinary School in 2008 at 450 W. Spain St., they saw an opportunity to transform the facility into an elegant European-style learning center, event locale and inn.

Sonoma County Superior Court judge Mark Tansil late last month ordered the city of Santa Rosa to pay the Building Industry Association of the Bay Area and its legal counsel, Pacific Legal Foundation, $243,417.50 in legal fees. … Robert Fedrick, 56, youngest son of North Bay general engineering contracting icon C.R. Fedrick, is restarting his father’s namesake company, which was founded in 1948, acquired by Arizona-based contracting giant Sundt Corp. in 1972 and renamed as Sundt in 2004. … The Veterans Home of California at Yountville received certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design for New Construction project rating system following a $17 million renovation of the Member Services Building, according to the California Department of Veterans Affairs. The project achieved Gold-level certification, the second-highest. … H2hotel, completed last July at 219 Healdsburg Ave. near the Healdsburg Plaza, recently received Gold-level certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design for New Construction project rating system.

NOVATO — The Buck Institute for Age Research is planning to launch its own graduate degree program and is preparing to add more parking and on-site housing for employees and students.

The new Culinary Arts Center will be the latest academic addition to the Santa Rosa Junior College campus.

ROHNERT PARK — Sonoma State University said today it had received a $12 million gift for the Green Music Center from Joan and Sanford I. “Sandy” Weill, the largest single cash gift in the university’s history. The gift will enable the university to complete the concert hall and adjoining lawn and commons venues in time for the 2012-2013 performance season.

KENTFIELD — The College of Marin Board of Trustees has approved an updated bond spending plan to include a new academic center at the Kentfield campus.

NAPA — The 60,000-square-foot, two-story library and learning center at Napa Valley College opened this fall and replaced the original 21,000-square-foot facility in June of this year.

SANTA ROSA — Luther Burbank Savings, the largest Sonoma County-based financial institution with $3.5 billion in assets, is moving to the old Traverso’s Gourmet Foods site in downtown Santa Rosa, doubling the size of its current headquarters branch to 6,000 square feet.

SAN RAFAEL – Guide Dogs for the Blind, which each year teaches hundreds of new “teams” of dogs and visually impaired people to work together, plans to start construction on a $30 million renovation of its San Rafael main campus next year.

SANTA ROSA — An expanded commercial airline passenger terminal for Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport partly reopened to the public today with key upgrades such as indoor baggage pickup and an integrated security checkpoint.

NAPA – After more than five years of environmentally sensitive planning, design and construction, American Canyon High School, set to open this fall, was dedicated Friday by the Napa Valley Unified School District.

NOVATO — Circle Bank today announced it completed the acquisition of property to house its headquarters at 999 Grant Ave. in Novato.

NORTH BAY – Here’s an update on major construction projects around the North Bay:

Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital’s new $57 million Heart & Vascular Institute officially opened after a final state inspection of this 27,328- square- foot state-of-the-art “hospital within a hospital” dedicated to providing excellence in cardiovascular care and research.

“One of the most remarkable highlights of Santa Rosa Junior Colleges’ 90th anniversary during 2008 was the completion of the Petaluma Campus at a 40-acre site on Sonoma Mountain Road,” said Dr. Robert Agrella, superintendent and president of SRJC.