A series of higher education facility construction and upgrade projects may be in the offing in Pima County depending upon the fortunes of a bond proposal scheduled to go before voters in November.
Members of the Pima Community College Governing Board last month gave their unanimous approval to putting on the fall ballot a $250 million bond designed to pay for, among other things, building renovations and the installation of new security systems.
With its administrative offices located in Tucson, the Pima Community College system is one of the largest multi-campus community colleges in the country. Created in 1966, the college today is home to nearly 39,000 students studying at half a dozen campuses, up from 26,000 a decade ago.
The school has also emphasized the teaching of education through the establishment of three learning and education centers in various parts of the district.
The bond, which earlier reports indicated might be as large as $300 million, will also fund an estimated $56 million in deferred maintenance issues on buildings, some of which were built in the 1970s.
An additional project will see the construction of a campus police headquarters that will go up in downtown Tucson at the site of several former 1950s-era motels that Pima Community College earlier purchased and subsequently demolished early last year.
The November proposal will be the first such ballot listing of its kind since 1995 when residents by a nearly 10% margin approved a $140 million bond for Pima Community College facility upgrade projects and construction.
April 30, 2026
By Garry Boulard
