Berdie Barlow, 46, quit her job in Arizona after 15 years to attend Bakersfield College full time and pursue a career in woodworking. BC was the only community college that offered a woodworking program. “I looked for a wood program in the western states, but there was nothing except here (Bakersfield).”
Barlow has been attending BC for three years and is a double major in woodworking and construction technology. She decided to major in construction technology after the woodworking department succumbed to lack administrative backing.
Currently, she is taking a construction technology class that has enabled her to work with wood. Barlow is just one of 15 BC students that has the opportunity to participate in building three homes.
The BC Construction Technology class is participating along with the city of Bakersfield, HUD (Housing and Urban development) and the BC foundation in building three homes in east Bakersfield.
The home is located at 339 S. Brown St. The size of the home is 1,317 square feet not including the patio. The home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a two-car garage.
Mark Dommer, BC Construction Technology professor, said the city of Bakersfield donated three lots to the BC Construction program and once completed the homes will be sold through HUD.
The profits will go to the BC foundation. The homes will be sold ranging from $175,000 to $220,000.
The project began last spring and is anticipated to be done by May of next year. The BC Construction students will build three homes total (one house every year), Dommer said.
Over $18,000 in donations by various contractors, such as B.S. &E. Co. ($5,000 of credit for equipment), Hot Shot Plumbing (materials and labor), and Advantage Homes (drawings/plans of the homes) have made this construction project an actuality.
All of the labor is done by non- affiliated Bakersfield College contractors; however, they are encouraged to spend time working with BC students through the building experience process.
Dommer said all of the contractors have been very cooperative and have instilled pride in their work. “When you build a career, you build communities,” Dommer said.
The construction project has also allowed the BC Construction Technology department to obtain a $500,000 HUD grant.
“The money has been used to upgrade our department. We have bought new, nicer equipment (trailer, dump truck and work truck),” Dommer said.
The Construction Technology class is taught by Dommer on Mondays through Thursdays from 8-12 p.m. There are 15 students in the class, and two of them are women.