The University of Albany has created the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, the nation’s first college of nanoscience, in Albany, N.Y. Providing infrastructure and environment for attracting new nanotechnology research and development, the college will be housed in the same complex as the Albany Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics located on the Albany Nanotech campus.
The School for Creating and Performing Arts (SCPA) and Schiel Primary School for Arts Enrichment are planning to build a combined home in Cincinnati that will be the nation’s first K-12 public arts school. The facility will accommodate 1,350 students with improved classrooms, specialized space for practice, display, and performance.
The University of St. Thomas is planning to build a new $22-million facility in downtown Minneapolis for its College of Business’ entrepreneurship program. The four-story Shulze Hall was made possible by a $50-million gift from Richard Schulze, the founder and former CEO of Best Buy.
Texas Wesleyan University broke ground in April 2004 on a $6.5 million residence hall on its Fort Worth campus. Designed by BOKA Powell of Dallas, the 78-unit project will house approximately 260 students in four-bedroom, two-bath/two-bedroom one-bath apartments; both floorplans include kitchen and living areas. Expected to reach completion in July, the hall is slated for occupancy in fall of 2004. The general contractor is Thomas S. Byrne of Fort Worth.
St. Bonaventure University is expanding the science facilities at its Olean, N.Y., campus. Ground was broken in April 2004 on the first of two planned structures sited next to the 104-year-old DeLaRoche Hall, the oldest academic building on campus. The facilities are funded by a $4.5-million NASA grant, plus $1.4 million in federal Housing and Urban Development grants.
Scripps/University Biotech Consortium is planning to build a Florida Universities and Scripps East Research Consortium Center adjacent to its planned 364,000-sf facility in Palm Beach County. Sited on 150 acres, the first phase of the $10 million, 15,000-gsf project includes design and construction of a campus gateway, a central utility plant, a large reception area, office suites, and meeting rooms.
The Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health Clinic will begin construction in June 2004 on a 42,000-sf facility in Mesa, Ariz. The school will occupy 30,000 sf; the remaining space will be used as medical offices. Completion is expected in April 2005. The building will be located in the Arizona Health and Technology Park, a $100-million development planned by The Alter Group of Phoenix and the A.T. Still University of Health Sciences.
The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center has selected California-based Shea Properties to redevelop its 30-acre 9th Avenue campus in Aurora, Colo. The campus, housing the 350-bed University Hospital, the Graduate School of Medicine, and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, and Pharmacy, accommodates over 60 clinical treatment and research programs. Plans for the site describe a large mixed-use development including office, retail, residential, and parking.
Hospital Clermont Ferrand University has awarded a subsidiary of Pasadena, Calif.-based Jacobs Engineering Group the three-year, $117-million contract for a renovation and relocation project in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Working with France’s Architect Group 6, the project is the sixth on which the two companies have collaborated. A maternity facility will be integrated into the hospital’s general surgery complex as part of the project scope.
Miami University is planning the construction of the $5 million Voice of America Learning Center in West Chester Township, Ohio. The latest design describes a conference center, five classrooms, two computer labs, and a 120-seat auditorium. Accommodating 75 courses per week, the facility is expandable to an additional 10,000 sf. A wireless network linked directly to the Butler County fiber-optic loop will enable instructors to brief students from remote locations.
Washington University in St. Louis will complete its new 148,000-sf Earth and Planetary Science Building in early fall of 2004. Designed by Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, the $33-million, four-story building will house the disciplines of chemistry, geology, physics, dynamics, and planetary science including the McDonnell Center for Space Sciences and the Geosciences Node of the NASA Planetary Data System.
The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology is planning a $1.5 million addition to its state-of-the-art seismology research facility, the IRIS/PASSCAL Instrument Center in Socorro, N.M. The 11,000-sf addition will house a newly established geophysics program with 20 geophysicists, engineers, and graduate research students engaged in the study of earthquakes. The project contractor is ESA Construction of Albuquerque. The facility is one of 14 New Mexico Tech construction projects slated for completion by summer of 2005.
Portland State University (PSU) will initiate a $3.1-million seismic upgrade and earthquake mitigation project to the two dormitories, Ondine Residence Hall and Montgomery Court, on its Portland, Ore., campus. The project is funded by $2.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $780,000 in matching funds from the state. PSU was granted the funds due to the facilities' high occupancy rate, susceptibility to earthquake damage, the existence of the Portland Hills fault, and damage incurred in the 1993 Scotts Mill earthquake.
Ohio State University is engaged in a major expansion of its cancer program that could total $400 million in construction projects over the next ten years. Doubling the capacity of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and the Richard J. Solove Research Institute, the project will include 725,000 sf to 785,000 sf of new development and 170,000 sf to 190,000 sf of renovation on the University's Columbus campus. Site selection will occur in the next 12 to 18 months. A search for proposals from architectural, engineering, and construction management firms is under way.
The San Mateo Community College District has selected sports-related engineering contractor CMX of Phoenix to lead the design team for athletic upgrades at three of its California colleges. The $15 million design-build project involves running tracks, upgraded football and soccer fields, track infield areas, tennis courts, baseball fields, improved seating areas, storage structures and press-boxes at College of San Mateo, Skyline College, and Canada College. Robert A. Bothman Inc. of San Jose is the project contractor.
