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NEWS Release

University News Service

P.O. Box 26170

Greensboro, NC 27402-6170

Telephone (336) 334-5371

Fax (336) 334-3418

(Posted 3-6-01)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News Service Contact: Laurie Gengenbach, 336-334-5371

SCIENCE BUILDING GROUNDBREAKING
CELEBRATED MARCH 12 AT UNCG

GREENSBORO — Groundbreaking for the eagerly-anticipated science building at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro took place March 12 on McIver Street, next to Eberhart Science Building, with Chancellor Patricia Sullivan presiding. Speakers included: Betty Ervin, chair of the UNCG Board of Trustees; Molly Broad, president of the UNC system; Phillip Kirk, president of North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry; Catherine Thompson, a senior chemistry major, and Ben Ruffin, chair of the UNC Board of Governors.

The new Science Building on McIver Street, adjacent to the Eberhart Building,
is scheduled to be completed in fall, 2003.

"Construction of the new Science Building is UNCG's number one capital priority, and largest bond project," Sullivan said. "It is an essential component in preparing our students to become viable practitioners of modern science and for building a knowledge base to support the changing economy of our region."

The $47.7 million, four-story facility is scheduled for completion in fall, 2003. It will house research and instructional space for the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and instructional space for the Department of Biology.

The new science building is to be paid for from the $3.1 billion Higher Education Bond Referendum voters approved in November, and represents the first large-scale bond-funded project to break ground in the state.

In addition to advanced science courses, general biology and general chemistry will be taught in the building, meaning approximately 2,600 students -- science and non-science majors alike -- will take classes there every year. It will add more than 1,300 seats and more than 170,000 square-feet of building space to campus, helping UNCG prepare for an enrollment boom predicted to reach 15,000 on-campus students, and 2,000 on-line distance learners by 2008. Chemistry and biochemistry professors are particularly excited about their future home. Their department has been housed in the 1939 Petty Science Building, which has gradually become outdated.

"The types of experiments we could do, or the techniques we could demonstrate have increasingly become limited by physical constraints and the interests of safety." said Dr. Terry Nile, chair of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. "This building will allow us to take advantage of the best that technology now has to offer in science instruction. Furthermore, it will help in our ongoing efforts to recruit top-notch faculty and students."

Meanwhile, the biology department has long outgrown the north wing of the Eberhart Building, which now serves as both instructional and research space. Due to the popularity of the life sciences, student-to-faculty ratio in biology is among the highest in the University, and more space is needed to accommodate new majors. Once the new building frees up space in Eberhart, the primary role for the biology wing will be research laboratories for faculty and advanced students.

"When the new building is completed in 2003, it will be the most modern biology facility of its kind in the state," said Dr. Anne Hershey, chair of the Department of Biology. "It will enhance our ability to attract and recruit top students and faculty, add courses, and expand our research program."

Having both departments housed together will also mean more opportunities for research collaboration and equipment sharing, she added.

In addition to the latest models in new equipment, other state-of-the-art instructional features will include: one Internet connection for every two students at lab benches; lab equipment feeding directly into computers for automated storage of data; and modern audio and visual equipment in labs, classrooms and lecture halls, to enable students to visualize scientific concepts and processes.

The desire voiced by faculty to create an "open and invitational" ambiance means the human element played a part in the building's design. Ample space is provided in demonstration areas to accommodate line-of-sight for every student. Lobbies, a second floor lounge, and an expansive atrium outside the auditorium will provide gathering space to promote informal conversations that can lead to collaboration.

In addition to classrooms, the facility will boast 25 teaching laboratories, a 300-seat auditorium, two lecture halls, six seminar rooms, a nuclear magnetic resonance facility for analyzing compounds, support labs, prep rooms, and storage and office space. The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry will have its own library, with journals, books and access to on-line databases.

Students from introductory to advanced levels in biology will make use of a 1,500 square-foot teaching greenhouse on the fourth floor. An adjacent 360-square-foot area for advanced students will contain five large plant growth chambers for conducting experiments under tightly controlled conditions.

Faculty and administrators, who have been talking about the building for the past 10 years, and actively planning it for five years, see it as an important step in the ongoing trend to strengthen the sciences at UNCG. Several new initiatives at UNCG have made the need for modern science facilities more compelling than ever. Just a few of these include an investment in gene arrays mapping, the plan to establish a technology transfer office by June, and the creation of a Science Advisory Board to improve UNCG's involvement with area science industries.

The building's architects and designers are O'Brien/Atkins Associates of Raleigh, in association with Ellenzweig Associates of Cambridge, Mass.

Four prime contractors were awarded the construction contract. They are Beers Construction Co. of Winston-Salem, general contractor and builders of the 1999 School of Music Building at UNCG, Cam-ful Industries of Pineville, NC, plumbing contractors, Biemann and Rowell Co. of Raleigh, mechanical contractors and Starr Electric Co. of Greensboro, electrical contractors.