Construction of two new buildings at the College of the Canyons Valencia campus is nearing completion as administrators prepare for the Fall semester.

The new student services and administration building and the College of the Canyons Institute for Culinary Education building are scheduled to be finished by the end of the fall semester, said Jim Schrage, COC’s vice president of facilities planning, operations and construction.

“We are doing really well,” said Schrage. “Our contingencies are holding up for both projects, and actually the student services building is five months ahead of schedule.”

The 46,370-square-foot student services and administration building will be finished but remain unoccupied until after the fall 2014 semester ends on Dec. 14 to avoid interruptions during regular operations.

With a $16.4 million price tag, the building will feature an expanded admissions and records office and welcome center. It will also hold the financial aid office, counseling center, transfer center, career services office, student services office, instruction office and administrative office.

The culinary arts building will continue construction throughout the fall semester and is expected to be completed by early Nov.

The culinary arts facility is being built from funds that were left over from the recent library expansion and Measure M funding. It will include a show kitchen, savory kitchen, sweets kitchen, a new area for wine studies complete with small vineyard, and a culinary lab space.

Culinary Arts students will finish out the fall semester at the venue they’ve been using in Castaic and will move to the new building at the south side of COC’s Valencia campus for Spring 2015.

“The culinary arts program will do a cold start during winter intermission,”said Schrage. “They will be serving people and testing equipment before they actually start in the spring.”

Both of these buildings were funded by Measure M, a bond financing mechanism approved by voters in 2006.

The bond was authorized at $160 million, and thanks to earned interest and state matching funds, the proceeds are now closer to $232.8 million, according to the COC website.

Measure M has funded not only the student services building and the Culinary Institute building but also the Dianne G. Van Hook University Center, the Applied Technology Center at the Canyon Country campus, expansions of both Mentry Hall and the library, and the new TLC building that is attached to the library.

After the completion of the two buildings on the Valencia campus, plans are to add more permanent buildings to the Canyon Country campus.

“Both buildings will be completed and ready for students by Feb. 1,” said Schrage.