While the coronavirus pandemic has limited students at Los Angeles County's various institutions of higher learning, Long Beach City College is preparing for the day when in-person learning can resume. 

In July, the college broke ground on a $48.2-million expansion at its Liberal Arts Campus.  Plans call for a three-story, 96,000-square-foot building containing a lecture hall, classrooms, and other facilities.

HPI Architecture is designing the steel-frame structure, which will have a similar vernacular to the rest of the Liberal Arts Campus.  The new construction will connect to an existing network of passageways and courtyards.

The building is expected to house multiple academic programs, including language arts and career technology education.

General contractor C.W. Driver is scheduled to complete construction in November 2021.