Building for the future

If you were able to walk into the E/F wing right now, chances are you wouldn't recognize a thing. Construction is well underway and everything is torn up with walls, floors and even some ceilings removed.

By next spring, however, the first phase of the E/F renovation is scheduled to be finished with new science labs and many other updates. The project, expected to cost $25 million, has been in the planning for more than 10 years with long awaited funding and grants released in 2011 allowing construction to begin last fall.

The state is funding $23 million of the project. The remaining $2 million is from a National Science Foundation grant applied for by GSU science faculty.

"These grants usually go to the big research universities. So it was really quite an honor to get the grant," said David Stone, Associate Vice President of Facilities Development and Management.

These grants are part of the economic stimulus program which represents just part of the actual ingredients that it took to bring this whole project into fruition. Funding for these programs is very competitive which means GSU had competition from other much larger universities vying for these funds, he said.

In addition to the prestige of the NSF grant, the updated science labs could also raise the profile of the GSU science department.

"The science labs were really outdated," said Stone, who noted that even some area community colleges had better science labs than GSU. Having updated facilities will help students learn and be better prepared for employment after graduation. It also helps attract new faculty, he said.

Updated science labs may also help attract graduate students interested in research.

"It's going to be a pretty sophisticated and state-of-the-art facility when it's completed," said Karen Kissel, Vice-President for Finance and Administration.

Capital Development is the general contractor for the project and the target date for completion of number one of two phases is February - March 2013. Science classes will continue to be held throughout the construction.

The second phase is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2014. At that time the university will be admitting its first class of freshman and is expected to have its first student housing on campus with 300 beds apartment style units with cooking facilities. These units will be just like off campus housing with the convenience of being located on campus just north of the Family Development Center.

Kissel and Stone credited GSU President Elaine Maimon with championing GSU's cause in Springfield which finally led to the release of the funds.

"She really made it a mission of hers to get the science labs renovated for the students," Kissel said.

For a closer look at the ongoing construction, photos are posted online at the website http://www3.govst.edu/ef-renovation/.