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St. Olaf to break ground for Science Complex Friday

By Carole Engblom
November 30, 2006

With fundraising for Beyond Imagination: The St. Olaf Campaign for the Future of Math + Science gaining momentum and the St. Olaf Board of Regents confident that the college will reach its initial campaign goals of $22 million by January 2007, a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Science Complex will be held on Friday, Dec. 1, at 3 p.m.

The state-of-the-art complex will include a 180,000-square-foot facility to be built on land now occupied by Flaten Hall, Old Main Annex and Manitou Cottage as well as 14,000 square feet of renovated space in Old Music Hall and 9,000 square feet of space in a connection link between the new building and Old Music Hall. With science and technology playing an increasingly visible role in daily life, it is critical that St. Olaf remain on the cutting edge of modern science education and conduct its programs in 21st-century spaces.

"The new Science Complex will be more than just a beautiful new building with the latest in equipment," noted St. Olaf President David R. Anderson '74 in a recent St. Olaf Magazine story, Answering the Call. "It has been carefully designed by our math and science faculty around our curriculum and the way we teach at St. Olaf today. It will promote the kind of active, interdisciplinary learning among science and non-science majors alike that will keep St. Olaf a national leader in science education."

The ceremony will be held near Old Main, between the Old Main Annex (currently under deconstruction) and the Art Barn. College Pastor Bruce Benson will deliver the invocation and the St. Olaf Trombone Choir, directed by Paul Niemisto, will perform special music.

Groundbreakers include Beyond Imagination campaign co-chairs and St. Olaf Regents Ruth Kelly Hustad '55 and John Benson; student representatives Ian Campbell '07, Kristen Roys '07 and Ian Vaagenes '07; St. Olaf President David R. Anderson '74 and St. Olaf Regent O. Jay Tomson '58; St. Olaf Provost Jim May and Assistant Provost Arnie Ostebee '72; James McConachie, who represents the Boldt Construction Company and James Baird, representing architects Holabird & Root; Pete Sandberg, assistant vice president for facilities and Northfield Mayor Lee Lansing; and Design Team leader David Van Wylen '80, associate dean for the Faculty of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Following the ceremony, a reception will be held in the Science Center lobby.

Contact Carole Engblom at 507-786-3271 or leigh@stolaf.edu.