Construction workers continue building McFarland Science Center upward and outward so that nursing students and others will be better able to build their specialized skills in new labs dedicated to everything from biochemistry to human anatomy.
“We’ve had a phenomenal growth in students over the past five to 10 years,” said Dr. Norma Burgess, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, when discussing the 24.000-square-foot addition that is expected to be completed in time for spring 2016 semester.
“We’ve added a nursing program that requires the use of more labs, so we’re just expanding the capacity for the students that we serve and more space to do that.”
The new additions will include six new laboratories for biochemistry, organic chemistry, microbiology and human anatomy and physiology. Programs have been added in pharmacy and nursing, and a new emphasis on research at the graduate and undergraduate levels and a master’s degree in biomolecular science have been added as well.
“I think the faculty have wanted more space for a number of years,” Burgess said. “I think everybody will be excited about it when it does open, so the opportunity to work with additional updated materials and instruments will be huge.”
Construction began in the fall of 2014 after funding was secured for the addition. There were delays in the site preparation due to the city permitting process and two feet of bedrock that had to be dug through.
The construction has caused a few problems for classes taking place in McFarland during the past year, such as the loss of parking spaces at the front of the building and noise produced by the construction.
“Everybody in the building has had to deal with that, the constant bumping of the jack-hammers and whatever else goes along that’s making noise,” Burgess said.
“Watching the cement being poured and smoothed and that whole process has been interesting and I remind them that if you want a new building, you have to deal with noise.
“We’ve tried to minimize it so it does not disturb our students’ concentration in the classes because it’s intense work,” Burgess said.
It is estimated that the final cost of the additions will be around $8.5 million, according to head of construction Mike Engelman.
“They’re making good progress and are scheduled to be finished in December, so students will be taking classes there, we expect, in January for the spring semester,” Burgess said. “It is just terribly exciting; We can’t wait.”
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