Click here to view live web cam of science building construction
 Blackburn College broke ground a new facility for
science at a ceremony Saturday, June 10 in Carlinville.
Dr. Ira Kodner, Senator Deanna Demuzio, Blackburn Board
Chairman Edward Young and President Mim Pride all spoke
to what the new building will bring to the region, the
Carlinville community and to the Blackburn campus.
"Blackburn College has long enjoyed a reputation of excellence in
the sciences, and this project is demonstrative of the College's
commitment to the importance of science in the 21st century," said
Blackburn President Mim Pride.
Students with declared majors in the natural sciences currently make
up the second largest program at Blackburn behind teacher education.
The College's master plan calls for a new 29,000 square foot science
facility that will adjoin the existing Olin Science Building. The
new building will contain eight state of the art laboratories, a
suite of faculty offices and conference room, a water analysis lab,
prep rooms for biochemistry, zoology and botany and an efficient
dock and storage system. Blackburn Provost Jeffrey Aper, Ph.D. sees
the new facility as the final link in securing the program's
continued excellence. "The three components to excellence are
faculty, programs and facility. Blackburn is blessed with dedicated
faculty and a program whose results have been proven over time
through the success of our graduates. The third component is
facility, which will allow our students to fully engage in all that
our program has to offer.
“The new science facility represents another significant step
forward for Blackburn and solidifies the College’s commitment to one
of its historical areas of academic excellence” said Young. The
College has raised $8.1 million in cash and pledges against a goal
of $11.2 million. The overall fund raising goal is composed of $8.4
million for the new facility and $2.8 million in endowment for the
new facility. Blackburn will continue to raise funds for the new
facility throughout the construction period and expects to meet its
goal by the building’s targeted completion date of January 2008.
In a nod to days past, “New Con” student construction crews will be
revived and play an integral role in the interior construction of
the new facility. The College’s current science facility, the Olin
Science Building, was built with student labor with a grant of
$250,000 from the F.W. Olin Foundation and commissioned in 1957.
“The reintroduction of “New Con” is a very deliberate move to
achieve certain cost efficiencies while providing today’s students
with the same kind of experience that benefited their predecessors,”
said President Mim Pride. Blackburn is one of six work colleges in
the nation where resident students work 10 hours a week for the
college.
Copyright ©2008 Blackburn College. All rights reserved.
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