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New science facility approved for College of Charleston
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
After more than a decade of planning, the College of Charleston will break ground this fall on a new science building to house its chemistry and biology departments.
The city of Charleston’s Board of Architectural Review approved plans Wednesday for the three-story, 125,000-square-foot building to be built at 205 Calhoun St. at the corner of Coming Street. The property is currently a parking lot used by the college, which is building a new parking deck along with dormitories on George Street.
The new science building will be built in a U-shape surrounding a landscaped courtyard and will contain a 150-seat auditorium, state-of-the-art laboratories and a 600-square-foot pollinator-free greenhouse designed for research. The new facility will cost about $50 million, said Norine Noonan, dean of the college’s School of Sciences and Mathematics.
The college has not constructed a new science building since the mid-1970s, when enrollment was about 5,000 students. The current enrollment is roughly 11,000, Noonan said.
“We’ve been struggling with lack of adequate space, and an increasing number of students want research experience,” Noonan said.
Faculty will have research laboratories in the new science building, which will give undergraduate students more opportunities to participate in research, Noonan said.
The new facility will also allow the departments of geology, physics and astronomy to expand in the science building located at the corner of Coming and George streets, which was built in 1975.
Liollio Architecture is partnering with Ballinger, a Philadelphia engineering and architectural firm, on the design of the new structure. The project is scheduled to break ground by October, said Dinos Liollio, principal of the Charleston firm.
The project will take about two years to complete, Liollio said.
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