Science Building Receives Several Internal Updates

Written by Juliette Price '11 - Managing Editor
Photos by Phil Spadanuta '09

After the Spring 2006 semester, the earth science building adjacent to the Milne Library closed its doors. This was done so that the old science building could experience an entire makeover.

"We completely gutted the building, expect for the lecture hall," Tom Rathbone, Associate Vice President for Facilities, said.

Construction on the building began in the summer of 2006, and is almost finished. The building occupies 78,388 square feet, making it a mid-sized building on campus.

To the untrained eye, the building does not look much different than it did before. This is because most of the outside was left untouched, leaving the real work to be done on the inside. 

Fourteen new science labs are scattered on all three floors which will be utilized for biology and earth science courses, as well as student and faculty research. The third floor will be mainly used for biology and meteorology and the second floor will be used for earth science courses. The new lab areas are set up differently than traditional rooms, allowing students to have more room. Each lab space will accommodate 24 students. In addition, most labs are adjacent to preparatory rooms used by instructors to prepare for labs.

On the ground floor, a new entrance way has been constructed. A student commons room is also located here, as well as the main lecture hall. The foyer has the possibility of holding different displays such as student work or even large fish tanks. There is also exhibition space on the first floor, which will support any student or instructor displays. There are also numerous conference rooms as well as staff and department offices. Greenhouses have also been built on the outside of the building.

The second floor contains more laboratory spaces, as well as staff offices. There will also be a hydrology lab and a tissue culture lab.

On the third floor, a weather observatory has been put in place. The glass room will make it easy for students to observe cloud formations and other weather patterns from inside the building. This special room is attached to the meteorology lab where students can then lay-out weather maps and other such instruments.

In the basement of this recently remodeled building, there lies an amazing piece technology which will be used for various functions; a planetarium. The planetarium consists of theater-style seating and a dome-shaped screen. With a digital projection unit, students will be able to crane their necks to view the entire universe. The geocentric view can be changed so observers can view the galaxy from different points of view. A starball will also be used to study the stars.

"We are only one of three colleges to have something like this," Rathbone commented. "I'm really excited about this part of the project." He hopes that not only the college campus will take advantage of this special feature, but members of the community and area schools do as well.

Being the newest building on campus, this sets high standards for the rest of the buildings by being green and energy-efficient. All fume hoods in the building are more energy-efficient as well as new occupancy sensors which control the lights in each room.

"We will be moving furniture and stuff by March...so hopefully we'll be opening in April," Rathbone said. The building will be open for actually classroom use in the Fall 2008 semester.