The new Science Building was officially opened with a grand ceremony, but $6 million are still left to be raised to finish paying for the renovations.
People assembled in the new atrium on Oct. 9 to hear the main speakers of the event: Tom Morrison, chair of Otterbein's Board of Trustees; Sadie Bartholomew, highly decorated Otterbein science alumna; and Ted Huston, chair of the Science Center Campaign.
Keys to the building were awarded to senior Anna Haller, junior Troy Burton and senior Justin Young; Haller and Burton serve as student representatives on the Board of Trustees, and Young, a Goldwater Scholarship (a prestigious scholarship given by The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program) recipient, represented the student body of the science department.
"This campaign is the largest capital expenditure the college has ever faced or undertaken," Huston said. With a fundraising goal of $12 million, the college still is $6 million short. The campaign also received $5 million from bonds and $3 million from Otterbein's operating budget.
According to Donna Burtch, the executive director of Development, the Board of Trustees kicked off the fundraising with a collective $1.2 million gift. Several large corporations also gave generously to the campaign, including Nationwide Insurance ($700,000), Messer Construction ($25,000), the Reinberger Foundation and Westerville Otterbein Women's Club.
The college is offering naming rights of the facility to whoever gifts $4 million.
Although this project has just realized its completion, it has been a work in the making for several years. Otterbein's science department was previously split into two halls: Schear and McFadden.
McFadden Hall was the original center of Otterbein sciences, built in 1920. Schear Hall was an addition completed in 1970. According to Huston, the project was originally spurred by former President DeVore in 1994. It finally came to realization when construction started on McFadden Hall in June of 2007. While this was finished by December, the Schear portion of the project–including a 30,000 square foot addition–lasted from January 2008 to February 2009.
A major part of the McFadden renovation was transformation of the LeMay auditorium into the LeMay Nursing Education Center.
A fourth floor was added to McFadden Hall, and a technologically-advanced simulation hospital was constructed. Haller predicted "It's going to draw more nursing majors," Barbara Schaffner, chair of the department of nursing, said.
Other new features of the Science Building include an atrium, two greenhouses and an outdoor plaza. "It beats the 10 minute walk to Collegeview," Aba Bransah, sophomore molecular biology major said. During construction, science classes were held in temporary facilities called the "swing space", located on Collegeview Road.
Dan DuBreuil, molecular biology major, said, "You can't even put the old one on the same scale with it." t&c;
