Grand opening of Fort Lewis College’s new Biology wing set for February 19, 2010

 

The grand opening celebration for Fort Lewis College’s new Biology and Agriculture wing of Berndt Hall will take place Friday, February 19, 2010. An open house and dedication ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. in the new wing, which is located next to the Chemistry Hall. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

 

The new $17 million Biology and Agriculture wing replaces the old section of Berndt Hall that previously held classrooms, labs and faculty offices. At more than 33,000 sq. feet, the new wing is almost three times larger than the old structure.

 

“The new Biology wing is critical to the advancement of our science programs at Fort Lewis College,” explains FLC President Brad Bartel. “We will now be able to train students for careers in our state-of-the-art laboratories, and faculty will have the research capabilities they have needed for many years.”

 

The completion of the new wing is a bright spot in the current economic slump in Colorado, and it was a long time coming. That’s because most of the funding for the new building comes from the state.

 

The money for a new Biology and Agriculture wing had originally been set aside by the state in 2000, but an economic downturn put the project on hold. In 2007 and 2008, state money was again set aside and construction began, but again the bottom fell out of the state economy and the new wing was put in jeopardy. In late 2008, Governor Ritter’s office released a list of capital construction projects that would have their funding frozen. The list included FLC’s Biology and Agriculture wing.

 

The biggest problem with the new wing having its funding frozen was the fact that the old wing had already been demolished. At the time the Governor’s list came out, Berndt Hall had been cut in two by a gaping hole in the ground where the new wing was slated to go up. After a few nervous weeks for the College, the Governor’s office announced that the funding for the new Biology and Agriculture wing would be made available again and that construction could continue.

 

The completion of the new wing will mean that one of Fort Lewis College’s strongest disciplines will finally be getting facilities that reflect the high quality of the education. Biology is the College’s seventh most popular degree, according to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), which tracks data for higher education institutions across the country.