WESTFIELD - State, local and community dignitaries joined Westfield State University officials for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the $33 million science center that will change the landscape of Western Avenue.
Interim President Elizabeth H. Preston told those gathered under a tent at the construction site on Thursday afternoon that the 54,000-square-foot building, scheduled for completion in August 2016, will not only serve as a state-of-the art educational facility, but its design will also enhance the surroundings.
'The Westfield State University Science Center is the first all-academic building constructed in more than 40 years at Westfield State and it's been more than five years in the making,' Preston said. 'Not only will our new Science Center contain classrooms, offices and meeting spaces, but its striking design is sure to be a wonderful addition to the Western Avenue streetscape.'
The new building carries with it a $46 million price tag that is comprised of $33 million from a 2008 Massachusetts revenue bond for construction costs, a $9 million loan from the Massachusetts State College Building Authority for renovations to existing office space in Wilson Hall, $3 million in grant funds from the state Life Sciences Center for equipment and life sciences programming, and $1 million from university fundraising initiatives for equipment and furnishings.
Matthew Malone, Massachusetts secretary of education, attended the event and spoke for himself as well as on behalf of Gov. Deval Patrick when he said that the new space delivers on a promise made by Patrick to put new buildings on all 21 of the commonwealth's state university campuses. The environmental sciences course study will also be the first of its kind, he added.
'This is what the future looks like, and the people on this campus are designing the future,' Malone noted.
The center will house state-of-the-art science laboratories, a suite of simulation labs for nursing and health science programs, and a technology-rich, interactive classroom that will serve many academic departments including economics and management, psychology, geography and regional planning, mathematics, and computer and information science.
'The building will feature an 'Innovation Corridor,' where students from all disciplines can come together to study, to exchange knowledge and ideas, to collaborate and to learn,' Preston said.
The interim president also said, 'in a few years, the Science and Innovation Center will be joined by what we are now calling the Juniper Park Center for Performance and Fine Arts' in the city's former Juniper Park Elementary School to house the university's music and art department, classrooms and offices, 'as well as first-rate studios, rehearsal halls, galleries and performance spaces.'
As part of the construction project, Preston added, Wilson Hall will be renovated to provide faculty, staff and students with an area 'to engage with one another in new ways that we hope will lead to increased skills, collaboration, creativity and innovation.'
The building architect is Cambridge Seven Associates with construction provided by Walsh Brothers Construction who also completed University Hall, Westfield State's newest residence hall that opened in the fall of 2013.
The science building construction site is adjacent to Wilson Hall and the commuter parking lot and visible from Western Avenue behind the Public Safety building.
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Entities 0 Name: Preston Count: 3 1 Name: Westfield State Count: 2 2 Name: Wilson Hall Count: 2 3 Name: Massachusetts Count: 2 4 Name: Juniper Park Center for Performance Count: 1 5 Name: Walsh Brothers Construction Count: 1 6 Name: Matthew Malone Count: 1 7 Name: Patrick Count: 1 8 Name: Elizabeth H. Preston Count: 1 9 Name: Deval Patrick Count: 1 10 Name: Westfield State University Count: 1 11 Name: Innovation Center Count: 1 12 Name: Malone Count: 1 13 Name: Westfield State University Science Center Count: 1 14 Name: University Hall Count: 1 15 Name: Massachusetts State College Building Authority Count: 1 16 Name: WESTFIELD Count: 1 17 Name: Cambridge Seven Associates Count: 1 18 Name: Life Sciences Center Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1mhMp5n Title: Quiz: Can You Answer 5th Grade Science Questions? Description: A new survey on scientific literacy from the Center for Accountability in Science found that most respondents failed to correctly answer questions designed for a 5 grade science class. "Most Americans are not armed with the basic facts about science," said Dr. Joseph Perrone, chief science officer at the Center for Accountability in Science in a statement.
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