Mass. College of Pharmacy celebrates new building

(The above photo of the new building was provided by the college.)

Mayor Thomas M. Menino is scheduled to attend a ceremony this afternoon to mark the opening of a six-story academic building at the Boston campus of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, his office said.

Located on the south side of Huntington Avenue in the city's Mission Hill neighborhood, the “green” building is designed to house classrooms, faculty and staff offices, teaching laboratories, a technology center, a 230-seat auditorium, and a multifunction room, a media advisory from Menino's office said.

The formal name of the building is the Richard E. Griffin Academic Center, the college said in a press release. The $35-million building was designed by Perkins+Will of Boston and built by Bond Brothers of Everett. Construction of the facility began in September 2007 and was completed in January, the press release said.

The facility is named for Richard Griffin of Bedford, N.H., the founder of Critical Care Systems Inc. in Nashua, N.H., the press release said. Griffin is a 1971 graduate of the college and a member of the college's board of trustees.

"The growing need for talented professionals in nursing, physician assistant studies and radiologic sciences helped drive the vision behind the Griffin Center, and I thank Mayor Menino and the Mission Hill community for helping us grow to meet this demand," Charles F. Monahan Jr., president of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, said in a statement. "As the oldest college in Boston opens this state-of-the-art facility, we sit in a unique position to use more than 185 years of history to educate the future health care leaders of tomorrow."

The building will be home to college’s School of Nursing, School of Physician Assistant Studies, Institutional Advancement, and the Office of College Relations and Communications, Menino's media advisory said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)