Marquette dedicated the first phase of its new Engineering Hall on Friday, even as construction continues to fully complete the building by next year.
The ceremony was attended by an estimated 700 faculty, students, alumni and other supporters. It included speeches by Opus Dean of Engineering Robert Bishop, university president the Rev. Scott Pilarz and current College of Engineering students. The presentation was followed by a blessing from the Rev. Edward Mathie and a Jewish prayer recited by executive associate dean of engineering Michael Switzenbaum.
“Engineering Hall is a living laboratory,” Bishop said in his introductory address. “Every detail in this building was explicitly designed to both show engineering on display and to foster the generation of creative ideas.”
Bishop thanked the more than 3,000 donors who helped to raise the necessary funds for the project. Among them were 10 donations of $1 million or more and an anonymous $25 million starting pledge.
The $50 million, 115,000 square ft. building, located on the corner of Wisconsin and North 18th streets, is a far cry from Marquette’s original engineering building, now the Gesu Parish Center. The College of Engineering moved into Haggerty Hall during the 1940s, with the Olin Engineering Center added in 1977.
But the two buildings can no longer meet the needs of the college, said associate dean Jon Jensen.
“We were simply out of space in the old facility,” Jensen said. “We can’t do half the things over there that we can do over here.”
New features include a two-story engineering materials and structural testing laboratory and an enhanced discovery learning lab with 24-hour student access. Even small conveniences such as lockers for students, which were unavailable in the old engineering facility, have been included.
Currently, only the ground level and first floor are open for students. The ground level is primarily for energy engineering studies and the first floor primarily for engineering education. Work is still being done to place drywall and move equipment on the upper floors, which are expected to open by fall 2012. When completed, those floors will be dedicated to “global challenges” such as human health and water resources.
The building was designed to be environmentally friendly, with solar panels and 130 sensors that can detect electricity and water usage in addition to temperature, humidity and wind conditions. According to the university, 95 percent of the debris from buildings razed to make space for the site was recycled.
Students seem to be enjoying the new facility, especially its open layout and modern design. Justin Lemminger, a senior in the College of Engineering, described Haggerty Hall as dark and gloomy and said the new hall has more of a 21st-century feel.
“We were so crammed in that old building,” Lemminger said. “There was never enough space for all of us, so it’s nice to have open area and sunlight.”
Christie Nguyen, a graduate engineering student and teaching assistant, also expressed appreciation for the building’s practical aspects.
“Class is just a lot easier,” she said. “It works a lot better. The flow is a lot better. It’s easier to present materials.”
Currently, only freshmen and senior design labs are being held in the Engineering Hall, with additional classes expected to move as construction is completed. The entire college will leave Haggerty and Olin after the upper levels are completed, with the expansion bringing the new hall to 250,000 square feet.
This second project will involve removing the building’s southern walls and expanding the building to cover the grassy area currently there. Costs are estimated at $50 million, with groundbreaking tied to the university’s ability to raise the necessary funds.