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CONTACT:  Russell Guerrero

russell.guerrero@trinity.edu

May 21, 2010

 

Trinity University Breaks Ground on $127 million Center for the Sciences and Innovation

President announces major funding initiative in support of project

 

SAN ANTONIO – Trinity University ceremoniously broke ground on one of the most ambitious building

 projects in the history of the institution. President Dennis Ahlburg, University Trustees, faculty, and students officially launched the construction of a $127 million Trinity University Center for the Sciences and Innovation which is scheduled to be completed in 2015. The ceremony took place Friday, May 14, on the Trinity campus with more than 100 in attendance.

 

“The new science and engineering center will offer outstanding research and classroom space to promote a truly interdisciplinary approach to scientific research and science education,” said President Ahlburg. “We are confident that these enhancements will stimulate further collaboration, encourage discovery, and open new ways of thinking across the sciences.”

 

Dr. Katherine Klinger ’72 senior vice president of Genetics and Genomics at Gensyme Corp. and member of the University Board of Trustees, called the science programs at Trinity “alive, thriving, and innovative.”  She added, “Scientific and technical literacy is increasingly important in our world and the new science and engineering center will allow Trinity to further draw the student body into these exciting fields.”

David Ribble ’82, professor and chair of biology and who took a leading role in the planning and design of the center, said the new facilities will also benefit students who are not science majors. With atriums, classrooms with glass walls, and student designed study spaces, the complex will “tear down perceived barriers around science and expose students to the excitement and relevance of science to their daily lives.”

 

President Ahlburg concluded the event by announcing a multi-million dollar fund raising initiative for support of the project.

 

Work will begin in June with the construction of a 55,000-square-foot facility that will connect with the Cowles Life Science Building. The facility will include updated chemistry and biology labs as well as new classrooms.

 

Later construction for the planned Trinity University Center for the Sciences and Innovation will include the complete renovation of the Cowles building, the demolition of the Moody Engineering Science Building and the construction of a replacement facility; and the creation of a bridge physically connecting the new and renovated facilities to the Marrs-McLean Science Building.

 

The new center will increase the University’s learning space to approximately 280,000 square feet.

 

In keeping with Trinity’s commitment to sustainability, a key goal of the project will be to attain the highest possible LEED standards with “green” designs and programs that encourage recycling and other environmental protection practices.

 

Joeris General Contractors Ltd. of San Antonio will be the general contractor in charge of the construction of the five year project.

 

Designs for the project were developed by the Boston firm of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture and Engineering, PC (EYP) in partnership with the San Antonio firm of RVK Architects, with assistance from a steering committee composed of Trinity faculty and staff members.

 

Updates on the construction of the Trinity University Center for the Sciences and Innovation will be added to the University Web site at http://web.trinity.edu/x4081.xml.

 

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