First Floor Renovation of NEC’s Science Building is the first phase of a multi-step construction project.
The renovations to New England College’s Science Building’s first floor started construction over the winter break last year and continued through the spring and summer.
The construction has now been completed just in time for the new school year. The first floor has updated air conditioning, lighting, and furniture. Along with those updates, there are also two newly updated laboratories and one newly updated classroom as well as a 112 seated lecture hall.
“The difference between what you see in the new sections and what we see in the old sections are just night and day,” said Dan Gearan, NEC’s Vice President of Capital and Facilities when talking about the science building’s new first floor.
He also adds that he appreciates the colors the architects chose as well as cabinetry and all the case work. The majority of the responses to the new first floor have been positive.
Kathy Simon, a professor that teaches at the science building, has expressed her enjoyment of the improvements.
“I do get to teach in one of the new classrooms, and that is one of my favorite rooms to teach in.”
Brian Masewic, a senior with an environmental studies major stated.
“It’s a lot cleaner looking. it has a lot more of a good aesthetic appeal to it. It’s a noticeable improvement.”
The renovations weren’t without its challenges, however. It was not anticipated how disrupted the building was going to be during the construction according to Dan Gearan.
“The new heating and air conditioning unit that’s on the roof required them to put some structural reinforcing into the structure of the roof,” said Gearan.
A Lot of the labs were disrupted on both the first and second floor and as a result, they had to be taken apart and put back together along with the renovated spaces. It was eventually all situated and everything came back together with improved ceilings in the rooms.
When the construction of the building progressed through the summer, research did have to be moved to Putnam center as a result of the building’s power being shut off for two weeks.
During those weeks a new electrical system was installed to the building. When discussing the continuation of future renovations of the science building Gearen said “The science building is getting what we call a phase renovation. We did about a quarter of the building.”
Three quarters of the building have yet to be renovated, but as of right now there is no determined date for the rest of the building as the school is waiting for funding to be available.
