'Premier science facility' progressing at North Central
The entire steel skeleton is in place for "the premier multidisciplinary science facility in the Midwest" at North Central College in Naperville.
President Troy Hammond predicted great things from the $60 million science center Monday as its final beam was secured.
He said the 125,000-square-foot building will provide the space for traditional sciences to unite with new technologies, innovative teaching and collaborative learning to advance education at the private liberal arts school.
"It's designed with its location and amazing common gathering spaces to ensure that it serves every student on this campus from every major," Hammond said. "It will benefit our entire region as students learn about science by doing it and prepare for success in life."
Expected to open next year, the facility will include 18 teaching labs, 16 research labs, 15 classrooms, a lecture hall, 19 student gathering spaces, 53 offices, a rooftop greenhouse with plants fed by a rainwater collection system, a rain garden and a convenience shop.
Officials say it will be a significant upgrade from the 35-year-old Kroehler Science Center.
"Our updated facility will improve the education for our students," said Lisa Long, a faculty member in the English department who stopped by Monday to sign the final beam. "I really think it's going to benefit our whole campus community."
The college broke ground on the science center last May after demolishing five college-owned houses and the former Student Village dorm at the southwest corner of Van Buren Avenue and Loomis Street.
Jeff Bjorklund, a chemistry professor who has been developing science center plans since 2003, said the reaction he's heard most often is amazement at the building's size. It's four stories including a basement and its frame includes 778 tons of structural steel.
"It's big - and more than just in a physical sense," Bjorklund said.
The building also will be "big" for providing a well-rounded education, something Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti recognized the school for doing.
"You will be the envy of all of Illinois because you are keeping in touch with the needs of the children of the future," Sanguinetti said during a "topping off" ceremony Monday.
A few hundred students, faculty members, college leaders and supporters watched the ceremony conclude as steelworkers connected the final beam, painted white so people could sign it in Cardinal red and black.
"I have a science major, so I wanted to be part of it since I'll be taking the majority of my classes in this building," freshman Kevin Messer said after adding his name to the beam.
The beam was marked with the tagline of the fundraising campaign that's making the building a reality: "A Brilliant Future." And that's exactly what the building will offer, said Steve Hoeft, chairman of the college's board of trustees.
"This building is a science center, but it's for everyone," Hoeft said. "We want biologists who can sing and philosophers who can make sulfuric acid. ... A place like this brings it all together."