Baltimore

Coppin State University Breaks Ground on New Science and Technology Center

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

On Tuesday, May 14, Coppin State University hosted a formal groundbreaking for its new Science and Technology Center (STC). Lt. Governor Anthony Brown, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and other elected officials attended the ceremony.

Coppin State University’s new Science and Technology Center will be located at the southern end of the university’s campus, in the northwest suburbs of Baltimore. It will be adjacent to the Health and Human Services Building, which opened in 2008. The facility will provide a new home for such science related disciplines as natural sciences, biology, physics, chemistry, general science and environmental sciences, and will also support programs for dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy training. It will house 24 labs, a lecture hall, an open computer lab, two general classrooms, three computer lab classrooms, a nanotechnology research lab and a research greenhouse.

“The new Science and Technology Center reflects a remarkable transformative power at Coppin. The new state-of-the-art-facility will enable access to cutting edge, high performance sciences and technology education that would allow the wide range of teaching, learning and research activity,” said Dr. Patel Maqbool, associate vice-president for administration and finance, in a statement. “It is designed to integrate fields of study with high social and community impact, a major addition to our beautifully growing urban campus.”

The STC will be a four-story concrete building with 150,332 square feet of space. Its architectural design includes sleek lines and a modern façade, different from the buildings in the surrounding area, which have typical brick facades with rectilinear building footprints. Coppin State University officials hope the new building will help improve student recruitment and faculty retention. Enrollment at Coppin State has been sagging in recent years.

“Coppin students will have competitive access to the learning environment [that is] so crucial for their academic and professional careers. The STC not only impacts the student body but also contributes to economic development, a sustainable environment and quality of life in West Baltimore,” Dr. Maqbool added.

Construction of the new building is expected to cost about $80 million. Lt. Governor Anthony Brown’s office told the Baltimore Business Journal that the total cost of the project is expected to be about $121 million and that it will be entirely covered by the state.

Cannon Design is the project’s architect, and the Barton Malow Company is construction manager. The STC is expected to be completed by January 2015. It is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Photo credits: Cannon Design.