WEST BARNSTABLE – A new science and engineering center is coming to Cape Cod Community College after Governor Charlie Baker signed a $3.9 billion capital bond bill last week.
The bill, which authorizes $950 million in higher education investment, will provide $25 million towards a $38 million project to replace the existing Science Building and Lecture Hall complex – the largest facility on the West Barnstable campus.
“This gives us the opportunity to not only work with the students, but to bring together the businesses, some of the non-profits on the Cape, and the government entities here that are dealing directly with the STEM fields in helping to plot out a new facility that is really geared to the future,” said Dr. John Cox, the president of Cape Cod Community College.
The new building will upgrade the facilities for biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, nursing, paramedics and environmental studies programs.
Cox said the design of the building will constructed around a theme of modularity.
“Over the next five to 10 years and further on from there, technology will continue to change, so how can we position the facility to take advantage of those changes with minimal requirements for major renovation?” Cox said.
The new STEM building would be roughly the same size as the current structure – around 40,000 square feet.
The initial planning and design phase of the project is expected to take at least a year, according to Cox.
“There will be a planning review,” Cox said. “We’ll bring the faculty. We’ll bring the program advisory committee members to the table. We’ll talk about the future needs for the college and for the community and begin to actually lay pencil to paper in charting out the needs of the building we’ll address specifically.”
As the project gets into more detailed design work the project will then go out to bid.
“It’ll probably be about 12 months out with construction to follow,” Cox said. The construction phase is estimated to take about 18 to 24 months.
“We are looking at about a three to three and a half year project for the actual completion of the construction and to have it ready for move in,” Cox said.
The current plan is to build the structure immediately adjacent to the existing Science Building and Lecture Halls.
Once completed, the old building would be removed.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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