College of the Canyons officials hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house for Canyons Hall, a $17.8 million project that houses key student support and administrative services together in one central location.

Watch the video here.

“Today we are here to celebrate this great new facility, Canyons Hall, which is 20 times larger than the first ‘A building.’ So good things happen if you just hang in there,” said Chancellor Dianne G. Van Hook. “At College of the Canyons over the last 45 years, people have had courage, had vision and they functioned as a team and they were willing to dream.”

Dozens of people attended the event.

The old “A building” facility was just 2,000 square feet, Van Hook said. The new 46,000-square-foot facility which includes Admissions & Records; computer labs; a Welcome Center; Financial Aid; Career Center; College of the Canyons Foundation; Community Education; Non-Credit and Continuing Education; Re-Entry Services; Switchboard/ Mailroom; Student Services; Public Information; Instruction; and Administrative offices.

Many College of the Canyons students will have their graphic design, photography and art displayed in the building.

The first Executive Director of the College of the Canyons Foundation Kathleen Maloney was honored at the ceremony and a conference room was dedicated to her and her family for her years of service at the college.

“I think this is an absolutely amazing building simply because we have all these student services offices here, ready for students,” said Christine Colindres, president of the Associated Student Government, “and I think that is very important that students feel welcomed.”

The entire project cost $17.8 millions dollars, which was funded by state resources and Measure M, officials said. About $160 million came from Santa Clarita Valley voters who passed Measure M in 2006.

“The building is big, its spacious, its modern — we love it,” said Michael Wilding, assistant superintendent and vice president of student services. “It was an interesting place to say the least and a tremendous amount of history… but it was was what it was and it gone and were happy to see it gone.”