Higher Education

The California Academy of Sciences is planning a state-of-the-art "green" museum and research center in San Francisco. The center will consolidate and replace Golden Gate Park facilities including the Morrison Planetarium, the Steinhart Aquarium, and other laboratories and exhibition halls. The Academy, the oldest natural history museum on the west coast, will close in 2004 and reopen in the new complex in 2008. Currently housed in 340,000 sf,  the academy will expand to 370,000 sf and will add a multilevel rainforest exhibit.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has awarded Parsons Brinckerhoff the contract to provide program management support for a capital improvement program with an annual budget of approximately $75 million. Working in concert with the Design and Construction Services group in MIT's Facilities Department, Parsons Brinckerhoff will be involved with managing interior renovations, remodeling projects and user improvements for over 100 projects campus wide.

Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury has selected Amenta/Emma Architects of Hartford, Ct., to design a new technology classroom building for academic and community use. The $31-million project, which is being administered by the State Department of Public Works, consists of a 100,000-sf building to replace the aging Founders Hall.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology has selected Boston-based Tishman Construction Corp. to provide construction quality/cost management services for the 713,000-sf Ray and Maria Stata Center. The academic complex, designed by Frank O. Gehry, is located on 2.8 acres of MIT's main campus. 

Duke University Medical Center in Durham plans to increase outpatient treatment capacity from 80 to 125 patients per day with a $3.5-million renovation of its comprehensive cancer center. Duke will add 10 treatment stations and 27 waiting room chairs.

The University of California San Francisco-Parnassus is planning a new $39.7-million seismic replacement laboratory. McCarthy will build the five-story, 86,000-sf facility, which will be completely seismic compliant. Included in the structure, scheduled for June 2004 completion, will be state-of-the-art equipment washing systems and numerous care and surgery facilities. Architect for the project is Flad & Associates of San Francisco.

Cornell University has selected McCarthy to provide construction management and general contracting services on Duffield Hall, a nanotechnology research and teaching facility now under construction. The $42-million project, a joint venture with Welliver McGuire of Elmira, N.Y., will provide state-of-the-art accommodations for the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility--the oldest federally supported nanotechnology center.

Harvard Medical School is developing a $250-million research facility in Boston for the medical school and collaborative tenants. Built by William A. Berry & Sons, the 430,000-sf facility includes a 196,000-sf parking garage. The project is 35% complete.

Philadelphia-based Comcast Cable will invest $21.5 million in a new technology support center on George Mason University’s Prince William campus at the Innovation @Prince William business park.

Boston's Emerson College recently held a topping off celebration for the Tuttle Center for Performance and Production, the first new facility to be built by the 120-year-old college. Designed by Elkus/Manfredi Architects, the 11-story project is being constructed by Lee Kennedy Co. and is slated for completion in spring of 2003.

Freedom Forum, a Northern Virginia-based nonprofit, is planning a $432-million media museum in Arlington. The original Newseum, which closed earlier this year, will be replaced with a 555,000-sf museum, retail and restaurant complex. Construction and equipment for the Newseum are expected to cost approximately $149.8 million. Designed by Polshek Partnership Architects and Ralph Appelbaum Associates, the facility is slated to begin construction in April of 2003. Completion is expected in 2006.

The Sacramento office of McCarthy Building Companies has completed construction on the $19-million Mary Stuart Rogers Educational Services Gateway Building at California State University, Stanislaus (CSUS) in Turlock. This 130,000-sf student services building and conference center was designed by architect RSK (Rollings Suarez Kuehne Associates) of San Francisco.

San Jose State University (SJSU) is planning Campus Village, a dormitory project providing up to 5,700 student, faculty, and staff beds. The three buildings, ranging from three to fifteen stories with two levels of underground parking, will replace three smaller, older dormitories. SJSU plans to spend $167-million on the facility and is pre-qualifying general contractors for the bidding phase. Construction is slated to begin in January with completion expected in spring of 2005.

Anne Arundel Community College has partnered with the Anne Arundel Community College Foundation to build a 77,700-sf school in the western portion of Anne Arundel county. The four-story facility, accommodating 7,500 to 10,000 students annually, will serve residents and employers of the region. Completion is slated for August 2003, with classes commencing in the fall.

The University of San Diego will consolidate the departments of biology, chemistry, physics, and marine sciences in its new 150,000-sf Donald Pearce Shiley Center for Science and Technology.  Housing a greenhouse, an astronomy deck, an aviary, aquariums, and 73 labs, the $46-million facility was funded in part by a $10-million gift from Donald and Darlene Shiley. The Center is currently under construction and is slated for completion in fall of 2003. Laboratory planner for the project is Research Facilities Design of San Diego.