CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY ON $12.7 MILLION EXOTIC ANIMAL FACILITY

MOORPARK, CALIF. — Construction has begun for the new $12.7 million home of Moorpark College’s Exotic Animal Training and Management Program (EATM). Replacing two portables that have served EATM’s staff, students and 150-plus animal inhabitants, the new facility will include two 50-seat classrooms, a veterinary medicine laboratory, a bookstore, a ticket booth and faculty offices. Overcoming the challenges of working in close proximity to exotic animals and building the structure into the campus’ hillside, Heery International is providing construction management services for the 13,000-square-foot facility, which is slated for completion in April 2011. Based at Moorpark’s Ventura County, Calif., campus, the EATM prepares students for careers working with animals in television, film, zoos, theme parks and more.