WALNUT, Calif.—Local legislators, school district officials, and community leaders recently joined Mt. San Antonio College in dedicating its new 250,000-square-foot Natural Sciences Complex—believed to be the largest of its kind among California’s 110 community colleges. “As a learning environment, our natural sciences center stands alone in terms of size, scope, and state-of-the-art technology,” Natural Sciences Dean Larry L. Redinger told the crowd of 300 guests. “The synergy of the future is in this complex.”
Themed, “Equation for Excellence,” the ceremony was attended by State Sen. Bob Huff, Walnut Mayor Mary Su, Pomona Mayor Elliot Rothman, Diamond Bar Mayor Ron Everett, Alexander Kim for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Mt. SAC Board of Trustees, the Measure R Citizens’ Oversight Committee, active and retired faculty, staff and students.
The $79.1-million, four-building complex was 12 years in the making and was completed in phases. It consists of the Science Laboratories Building, the Bio-Chem Lecture Building, the Science Lecture Building, and the Math and Science Instructional Center. The complex is the result of collaborative planning by faculty, administration, staff, and students.
It houses the disciplines of astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, engineering, mathematics, physics, and histotechnology, and it is “home” for over 90 full-time professors, 120 adjunct professors, and nearly 30% of Mt. SAC’s 41,000 credit students.
“With the opening of the math/science building last spring, we finished the process of unifying all of the math and science instruction into a single area—a process that was conceptualized in 1996,” said Mt. SAC President John S. Nixon. “Beyond its architectural qualities and functionality, we value even more the quality of instruction that our students receive as they pursue their dreams to become the next generation of scientists, medical professionals, engineers and geologists.”
The Science Laboratories Building was the first of two new buildings constructed. The 70,000-square-foot state-of the-art lab facility opened in fall 2006, prior to the renovation of two older buildings that would become the Science Lecture Building and the Bio-Chem Lecture Building, and the construction of Math and Science Instructional Center, which opened in March.
The 66,000-square-foot math/science building provides 30 classrooms, faculty and division offices, computer labs, lecture halls, two math tutorial centers, study rooms, and an Exploration Center, which will feature public exhibits.
Some of the unique features of the entire complex include a state-of the-art instrumentation lab in the Bio-Chem Lecture Building, several student study areas and a robotics room for physics students in the Math and Science Instructional Center, and a cadaver lab for anatomy classes in the Science Laboratories Building.
Construction of the Natural Sciences Complex was funded by Mt. SAC’s $221-million Measure R facilities bond and state matching funds.
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