One year after voters approved Delta College’s $598 million Measure K facilities bond, the district’s most consequential campus overhaul in two decades remains in its preparatory phase.
The work so far has taken place largely out of public view: selecting priority projects, securing architectural firms, forming an oversight committee and coordinating internal management. No major construction has begun, but the district says the pace is consistent with the requirements and timelines of large-scale capital projects at California community colleges.
A slow but standard first year
When trustees approved Measure K in November 2024 with nearly 60 percent support, Delta entered a phase that facilities officials describe as foundational: establishing the scope of Phase 1, hiring design teams and completing early compliance steps.
At the Feb. 18 board meeting, trustees set the first round of Measure K priorities: a permanent academic center at the Mountain House campus; a modernization of the college’s aging technology cabling; major energy-efficiency and infrastructure upgrades, including parking lot replacements; and a new Public Safety Training Center in partnership with the City of Lodi.
Director of Marketing and Communications Alex Breitler confirmed that those four projects remain the district’s Phase 1 focus.
Three of them — Mountain House, energy efficiency and the technology cabling project — will use the design-build method. Under California’s Public Contract Code, design-build is a delivery method that combines design and construction into a single contract, allowing the district to hire one team responsible for both phases.
The criteria architect for the energy-efficiency project was approved Nov. 18, with architect selections for the remaining two slated for board consideration on Dec. 16. The Public Safety Training Center has moved into the schematic design phase, which outlines the project’s overall layout and concept before full construction plans are drafted.
“Although that work isn’t yet visible to students and the general public, we are getting closer every day, step by step,” Breitler said.
Internal pressure points: space, infrastructure and expectations
Faculty presentations this year highlighted the scale of need Measure K is intended to address.
Health Science instructor Amanda Lee urged the board to prioritize a modern facility for the nursing simulation lab, citing program growth and the need for realistic clinical training spaces. Other departments with aging facilities expressed similar concerns.
Trustees acknowledged the pressure to begin visible work sooner rather than later. Board Vice President Dr. Charles Jennings said some residents “felt burned last time,” referring to the pace of Measure L projects in the mid-2000s.
He also emphasized that constructing a new academic building could take “three to five years” from initial design to completion under state review requirements.
Oversight and project management enter focus
Measure K requires an independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee. The committee has since been approved by the board, with its first public meeting scheduled for Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. in the Mustang Room.
“Their role provides critical oversight of how taxpayer dollars are being spent,” Breitler said.
The district has also begun issuing the first series of bonds to fund design and pre-construction work and has entered a project labor agreement intended to direct construction jobs to local workers once ground is broken.
Delta has opted not to hire external program managers at this stage. Oversight and coordination are instead being handled internally by Daniel Banowetz, who was appointed associate vice president of bond programs in June.
Banowetz said the early stages of the bond do not require a large team, as most of the work involves planning, financial sequencing and preparing projects for design.
“Right now it’s just me, because in the first phase of any bond program there’s a lot of early groundwork but not a lot of simultaneous construction,” he said. “We’re doing all the buildup — the foundational work needed to get projects started.”
Banowetz expects to bring on one additional staff member once several projects are moving through design and construction at the same time.
No shovels yet, and none expected until 2026
As of fall 2025, no Measure K construction has begun on the Stockton, Mountain House, Lodi or Manteca sites. The first visible construction — the large-scale replacement of several Stockton campus parking lots — is scheduled to begin in summer 2026.
Banowetz said that while the absence of visible progress can cause concern, it reflects the reality of public-sector construction. “The beginning of a bond is always the hardest part because nobody sees any construction happening,” he said. “But there’s so much that has to be done before you break ground.”
That includes sequencing bond issuances. Delta issued its first $41 million earlier this year, and Banowetz noted that the district is required to spend each issuance within three years. “We have to be strategic about how we pull each issuance so we keep our promise to taxpayers and stay within the $16 per $100,000 tax rate,” he said.
Over the next 12 months, students can expect to see smaller changes: internal HVAC work, technology cabling inside older buildings and early preparatory activity in campus parking lots.
To reduce disruption, Banowetz said the college is working with college police to track parking usage and schedule lot closures accordingly. “For HVAC and cabling work, most of it will be done after hours or on weekends,” he said.
“We pay a premium for that, but minimizing impact on students and staff is important,” Banowetz explained, referring to the higher labor costs associated with evening and weekend work.
Looking ahead: a long rebuild, beginning slowly
Measure K is Delta’s most ambitious facilities plan in two decades. Later phases, which have not yet entered design, are expected to include major renovations to classroom buildings on the Stockton campus as well as new facilities and expansions at satellite centers.
Banowetz said economic conditions will be a key factor throughout the program.
“It’s a long program, so the biggest unknown is the economy,” he said. “Construction costs rarely go down. If I’m doing my job right, I have to get construction underway as soon as we can, because waiting usually makes it more expensive.”
Superintendent/President Dr. Lisa Aguilera Lawrenson said when the bond passed that Measure K would “make a massive impact on the lives of thousands of families for decades into the future.” The district’s first year has been defined less by visible change than by the administrative, regulatory and design work required to prepare for it.
Banowetz said he hopes the community understands the importance of that early foundation.
“The start of a bond program may look like nothing is happening, but the beginning has to be done right so the rest of it goes well.”
The next turning point will come in 2026, when the first construction fences and equipment arrive on the Stockton campus. Until then, Measure K’s progress will unfold in board decisions, design reviews and planning documents, the quiet but necessary steps that precede a multi-year rebuild.
