Talisman Construction Services Inc., of Spokane, is completing $580,000 worth of demolition work this month at Spokane Falls Community College, mainly to clear space for two projects that could start as early as next spring.

Talisman Construction began work in August. Earlier this month, the company finished razing SFCC's old science building on the south side of the campus, directly east of the administration building, says Justin Arrand, a project manager for the company. The 39,000-square-foot science building was removed to make room for a new classroom building.

Talisman also expects this month to finish up demolition of SFCC's old business building, which had roughly 18,500 square feet of space, Arrand says. That removal will help make room for an early learning center, which is planned nearby on a triangular piece of land in the northeast area of the campus.

Also, Talisman is expected by the end of this month to remove a 2,300-square-foot former recording studio on the north side of campus, across the parking lot from the upgraded music and performing arts building, which opened to classes in January after a $12 million building renovation and expansion project. Removal of the old recording studio will provide open space near the music building.

One of the two projects that Talisman's work has cleared space for is the planned construction of a two-story, 67,000 square-foot classroom building that originally was designed to cost about $14 million. The other project is a planned 16,000-square-foot early learning center, which was estimated at $3 million.

However, this past summer, the legislature approved funding for both projects at 85 percent of estimated costs, says Dennis Dunham, Community Colleges of Spokane's facilities director. He says that requires a redesign of the buildings, and he hopes that work will be done in time to get plans out for bids by late fall.

He says construction would begin next spring at the earliest, with expected completion a year later.

NAC|Architecture, of Spokane, is the architect for the campus classroom building project, but Dunham says he hasn't secured an architect yet to redesign the early learning center. The learning center would provide child-care services to children of SFCC students.