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View east from above Hwy 213 and Athletic Street
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College Commits to New Science Building
by Kristalyn Bunyan
Click photos to enlarge
Bob Merrill (Building & Grounds Committee Chairman), Ron Martin (Board Chairman), Jack and Carolyn Ferguson (Major Donors), J.C. and Elizabeth Ponder (Land Donors)
From over Fellowship Hall
From over Wren
From high over Meares Stadium Press Box
The backside of Wall Science Building today
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Groundbreaking ceremonies were held May 6 for the new Ferguson Math and Science Center.
"This is a watershed event in the life of Mars Hill College," said President Dan Lunsford. "It has been 33 years since we last broke ground for a new academic facility."
The new building will be located behind Wall, the current math and science building, which was built in 1940. It will be about 38,000 square feet and will provide modern labs with more space and storage for scientific equipment.
It will house 17 teaching labs (11 for natural sciences, 3 for computer science, and 3 for Fashion and Interior Design), four small labs for student-faculty research, three general use computer labs, and 13 classrooms. Currently, Wall has around 8 Biology and Chemistry labs, 2 computer science labs, and 8 classrooms. The two buildings will eventually be connected.
All rooms in the Ferguson Center will have wired Internet access, with some parts of the building having wireless access.
The building is being named after Carolyn and Jack Ferguson of Candler, North Carolina, who have pledged more than $5 million to the building fund. The Fergusons were awarded honorary doctorates during graduation ceremonies earlier in the day.
The center is being built on land donated by J.C.Ponder, who grew up in a house that once stood right behind Wall. "This was a cornfield right here," said Ponder, just before picking up a shovel to help break ground for the new building. "No money could have bought this property. We did love it. We are so proud today to know what is going to be here."
Professor of Biology Jo Ann Croom said the center "represents not so much a new beginning as a progression in the growth and development of science and math programs here at the college...We are standing on the shoulders of giants who have given us a strong foundation on which to build. With this new facility and with our able faculty, we can build academic excellence."
Associate Professor of Biology Scott Pearson said in an interview last week that the college plans for a 30% growth in the number of students in science and math majors.
"I am excited about the prospect of working in a modern attractive facility," Pearson said. "The new building will represent, in a physical sense, the quality of the science programs at Mars Hill College. Therefore, it should help us recruit more high quality students with career interests in these areas. It will also help us recruit high-quality faculty in science and math."
Although the ground has been broken, no construction date has been set. It is projected that it will take 18 months for the center to be completed once construction starts. The building will cost about $9.2 million, according to a preliminary estimate from Alex Miller, vice president for institutional advancement.
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