Building boom at colleges

New space will support sciences

Two local state colleges - Bridgewater and Massasoit in Brockton - are planning ambitious building projects after receiving more than $125 million in state funding.

Bridgewater State College plans to construct a $98.7 million science building, while Massasoit Community College will build a $27.4 million health and science building.

Bridgewater will tear down half the existing Marshall Conant Science Building and renovate the other half, while adding a new wing. The new 212,000-square-foot structure will more than double the size of the old, outdated building, which was built in the 1960s.

"It's the single most ambitious project the school has ever undertaken," said Bryan Baldwin, the school's chief of staff. Plans call for groundbreaking next fall, with the building finished in 2012.

The building reflects a growing interest in science and math careers at the 10,000-student school. The number of undergrads majoring in the sciences - from physics to biology, math to computer science - has climbed from 660 to 763 since 2004, an increase of more than 15 percent.

About 85 percent of the students come from Southeastern Massachusetts.

Massasoit, which has 7,000 students and awards associate degrees at campuses in Brockton and Canton, is planning an 80,200-square-foot health science facility in Brockton. The school's health and nursing programs will be consolidated in the new building. The facility, with updated classrooms and lab space, will house programs in nursing, radiologic technology, and respiratory care.

"We've been planning this for a number of years," said spokesman Dick Cro nin. "We're desperately in need of an allied health building."

Health studies, particularly nursing programs, have expanded rapidly in the past few years, he said. The school hopes to break ground in 2010 or 2011.

The money for both schools comes from a $2.2 billion higher education bond bill passed by the Legislature and signed into law this month by Governor Deval L. Patrick. The money will be used over the next decade for renovations and building at all of the 29 community and state colleges and University of Massachusetts campuses. About $1.2 billion is dedicated to state schools, while $1 billion is for the five UMass campuses.

In Bridgewater, plans for construction started about four years ago, after the staff agreed that the science building was the most glaringly deficient building on campus.

"Everyone complained about it and we sat down to see what could happen," said Rita Miller, the acting dean of arts and sciences. The new building will allow the school to combine the science and math departments under one roof.

The building in Bridgewater is not yet designed. The project is complicated by the need for specialized features to accommodate science equipment. Adding to the challenge is the fact that the current building will be used during construction.

Officials at Bridgewater see more interest in the hard sciences, especially among the children from schools in the area who visit the campus for classes and exhibits.

"During the '80s and '90s there was a real falling off in math and science studies," said Jeffrey J. Williams, acting associate dean. "Now there's something of a renaissance," with much more interest.

The construction of the new building will reflect modern thought about teaching methods. Rather than a "linear" approach, with a teacher in front and desks and tables set in rigid lines for individual study, the classroom settings can be adjusted for a more collaborative style.

The new building will also feature community rooms and areas where teachers and students can congregate outside of class.

The current building is outdated and dysfunctional in many ways, reflecting styles and knowledge that are decades out of date, said officials. Visiting students sometimes say the building, with its rows of lockers and old-fashioned architecture and classrooms, feels more like a high school than a college.

In a physics lab, Williams pointed to gas jets on the student tables and noted that they are not used by physics students anymore. An electrical box for controlling power is ancient.

"The space is just not suitable," he said. New, cutting-edge science equipment has been crammed into rooms in a section of the building referred to as the "dungeon." Stairs, crumbling on the edges, need repairs. Floor tiles are missing in some areas. An old lecture hall is seldom used because the setup is difficult for speakers and the acoustics are poor.

The school, set on a sprawling 280 acres, is expanding, said officials. It has 300 professors, an increase of about 50 from 2002, and another 50 or so could be hired over the next five years. The science and math departments have more than 80 professors.

The number of full- and part-time students could grow to 11,000, officials said.

Matt Carroll can be reached at mcarroll@globe.com.