A combination of unusual methods has resulted in lower costs, better design and a pooling of resources sure to make the new Science and Technology Building at the SouthShore campus of Hillsborough Community College a success.
“This is the first [college-related] building in decades that was built with no state funds,” said campus President Allen Witt. “It is being completely paid for by the college. We borrowed, and will pay back the loan within seven years. We had to expand. The State said we had enough space for 25 percent of our existing enrollment. Now we have 18 portables and more students registering every semester.”
The school year of 2014/2015 saw 6,726 students and more are expected next term.
“The State and County didn’t think a facility like this was needed in this area in the beginning,” Witt said. “But it was the vision of [the college’s] district administrator, Ken Atwater, who first knew it. Dr. Atwater also knew we needed this new building and moved the priority up.”
The college, in Ruskin, opened in 2008 and has been packed ever since, Witt said.
Besides not using the State’s funds, another unusual method was letting the new Science and Technology Center be partly designed by the professors who will be using it, Witt said. The lab technicians and college staff worked with architects at Reynolds, Smith and Hills and with builders from Cutler Associates Inc., both of Tampa, to get all the things they needed and more.
“Safety was a big issue,” said Academic Dean Craig Hardesty. “Working with chemicals is safe in this new environment, where vented hoods pull the fumes up and away from students’ faces.”
The 36,000-square-foot center is now complete and is being filled with equipment, some of which is already in place.
When ready for occupancy, there will be nine science labs, two computer science rooms, and six multi-purpose classrooms. Constructing the building took into consideration things the professors suggested, such as the need for “new thinking” in design.
“As we rely on more video technology, we needed smaller windows, and we placed them up high so there is more wall space for projection,” said Witt. “These are things [that] those working with students know that builders would not think of. As education changes, we must also change the work space. ”
This also accounts for much of the wall space being taken up by extra-large white boards, some that wrap around corners of the room.
“Everything is state-of-the-art,” Hardesty said.
Classes will include chemistry, anatomy, physiology, microbiology, physics, earth science, marine biology, environmental science, zoology, general biology, meteorology and astronomy.
There will also be “organic chemistry,” which at this advanced level uses controlled substances that require specialized safety features — like the vented hoods.
The highest enrollment so far at the college has been in the emergency medical services.
At a cost of $9.6 million, the new center still came in at $400,000 under budget, and the time frame was less than two years from start to finish.
This was definitely unusual, and unexpected, Witt said. He credits the rapport between the professors, architects, school administration and builders.
The majority of classes will start Monday, Aug. 17, although others will start later. A few classes are already full.
There will be a Grand Opening for the community Monday, Aug. 24, at 11 a.m., with County Commissioner Sandra Murman as keynote speaker.
Michelle Colson, vice president of student government, will be one of the students giving tours during the Open House. Colson said, “Our [student government] president, Tricia Blackburn, and other students will be giving full tours. It is very exciting.”
Student government is working very hard to collect artwork to decorate the now-empty halls of the center. So far, one painting of a chemist working approximately a hundred years ago hangs by itself on a second-floor wall.
Other art relative to science is welcome.
Kristen Pieper will be the laboratory manager who will prepare the experiments for students.
“I take a lesson from the syllabus, obtain the materials necessary for the experiment, and see that they are set up and performed according to the syllabus,” Pieper said.
Pieper will have three student helpers: Matthew Parisi, Araceli Jaramillo and Ruth Madera.
While the community is welcome at the Grand Opening, it is suggested that people RSVP so that the facility staff will be able to better prepare. To RSVP, call Lee Coletta, executive staff assistant to the Campus President’s Office, at 813-259-6128 or email her at lcoletta@hccfl.edu.