$147 million facility represents the state’s largest investment in
higher education
MURFREESBORO – Middle Tennessee State University’s new
campus showpiece — the 257,000-square-foot, $147 million Science Building — is
ready for the ribbon-cutting celebration.
Gov. Bill
Haslam is scheduled to attend with numerous other dignitaries, the campus
community and alumni and friends of the university.
The grand
opening will be held starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, at the facility
located at 440 Friendship St., just off Alumni Drive on the south side of
campus. The public is invited.
For visitors, a
shuttle service will provide transportation from the Rutherford parking lot on
Rutherford Boulevard starting at 9 a.m. For parking and building location, a
printable campus map can be found at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap14-15.
Haslam, who
will be introduced by university President Sidney A. McPhee, will be the
primary guest speaker.
Tennessee Board
of Regents Chancellor John Morgan and other state and local dignitaries are
scheduled to give remarks as well, along with select MTSU students and faculty.
“The building
is already helping MTSU create more science graduates to fill high-tech jobs,”
McPhee said. “It immediately makes MTSU more competitive for research projects,
science scholarship and entrepreneurial efforts.”
The facility
represents the state’s largest capital investment in higher education. It
features 37 class laboratories, two open labs, 13 research labs, six
classrooms, about 1,500 student stations in labs and classrooms, chemistry and
biology faculty and staff offices, numerous informal learning areas and space
for student presentations.
“MTSU’s new
Science Building promotes dynamic, collaborative, experience-based teaching,
interdisciplinary research opportunities, will help attract and retain highly
qualified faculty and students and will make MTSU students more competitive in
advanced study and science-based professions,” College of Basic and Applied
Sciences Dean Bud Fischer said.
Nobel
Prize-winning chemist Harry Kroto will deliver the first public lecture in the
building at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20, in lecture hall Room 1006. Kroto shared the
1996 Nobel Prize with Robert F. Curl Jr. and Richard E. Smalley for their
discovery of fullerenes, a series of carbon molecules.
The Science Building
opened more than five months ahead of schedule. Turner Construction Company
built the facility. Thomas, Miller & Partners PLLC served as project
architect.
Refreshments
and tours will follow the ceremony. The dedication coincides with MTSU
Homecoming Week activities.
DIGITAL
FEATURES:
•
For a
three-minute video tour of the MTSU Science Building, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeBYU-U7uo8
•
To
view the MTSU Science Building Fact Sheet, visit http://www.mtsunews.com/sciencebuilding
•
To
view video of student and faculty impressions of the facility on the first day
of classes Aug. 25, visit http://youtu.be/D0S5IVFm3Xc.
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