Construction of the $11.2 million Bioscience addition to the Science Building on Falmouth Street in Portland began two weeks ago after almost two years of planning.
Completion is scheduled for April 2003.
Although the center will offer a great deal for the study and research of science, the construction is taking a big chunk of parking spaces from the existing faculty/staff lot that was nestled between the Science Building and Sullivan Gym. All but a few of the 111 parking spaces are gone and when the addition is done there will only be a 40-space lot remaining. Currently, there are no plans to build a permanent lot to make up for the lost spaces.
Construction crews are doing what they can to squeeze in extra spaces on campus right now. Eight spaces have been added on the Brighton Avenue side of Payson Smith Hall, and 21 spaces have been added to the lot next to the Alumni House. Dave Early, executive director of Facilities Management, suggested other options for faculty and staff. He said that there are 90 spaces on Baxter Boulevard by the radio tower, and also mentioned the Marginal Way lot.
Parking spaces will be at a premium for the time being for faculty and staff. In addition, the Bedford Street parking garage is not scheduled to be completed until the fall of 2003.
The building will not be used for classes. It will consist of labs and small offices to be used by researchers and assistants, Early said. All of the researchers are USM faculty.
The broad term “Bioscience” was chosen as a description for the building so that its name could include many different arenas of study, said Brian Hodgkin, director of Bioscience Research Institute.
The new addition of the Bioscience center will bring a more diverse offering of science studies to USM including environmental toxicology, the study of removing toxic substances from the environment, and immunology, the study of the immune system’s response to foreign substances, said Hodgkin
“I think one of the exciting things it [the building] brings to the school is a presence on campus of career opportunities majors can have in the sciences. The addition will offer a chance for faculty, students, and researchers to mix,” said Early.
Initially, only the ground level and first floor will be completed by next April. These floors will hold 12 labs and small office spaces. So far, the funds for building have come from the state and the researchers themselves.
Early said that no student tuition money was taken for this project, and that the money needed for the completion of the third floor looked as though it would come in soon.
Staff Writer Natalie Frye can be contacted at: [email protected]