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An inside view: A College scientist
eyes the space designed to house the
building's cutting-edge molecular biology labs.
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USC College celebrates 'Topping Out'
of new life science facility
The College marks a key milestone in the construction of new Molecular & Computational Biology building
By Eva Emerson
USC College recently marked an important milestone in the construction
of the new $55 million Molecular & Computational Biology Building
with a celebration that brought together the building crew, project
administrators and some of the site’s future occupants—College
scientists eager to get a look at their new space.
The "Topping Out" event followed the pouring of concrete for the final
roof slab, the last major structural work on the four-story building’s
concrete frame.
The state-of-the-art research facility is on-track to meet its targeted
opening date in May 2005. Construction began less than a year ago on a
site next to Kaprielian Hall.
“We’re pleased that we have been able to meet some tight deadlines,”
says the College’s Jim McElwain, an architect and liaison on College
capital projects.
“We’ve passed the point when we’re most likely to be hit by delays and
unforeseen costs caused by bad weather or other problems. If everything
continues this smoothly, we should have no problem finishing on time
and on budget,” he says.
“This magnificent facility is crucial to the continued growth in life
sciences research at USC,” says College Dean Joseph Aoun. “The
university and our many college supporters are making a major
investment in the College’s research infrastructure, an investment that
will enable our faculty to make new biological and medical discoveries
and train the best of tomorrow’s scientists.”
Many College faculty have closely followed the progress of construction
over the internet, which provides updated views of the growing
structure from the Webcam perched atop Parking Structure A.
At the event, party-goers toured the first few floors of the new
building, which at this point give only hints of the finished product.
Come next year, the building will house some of USC’s most cutting-edge
laboratories and office suites dedicated to molecular biology,
genetics, genomics, computational biology and bioinformatics.
USC College has built an international reputation in the fields of
computational biology, bioinformatics and genomics, but the group of
scientists and mathematicians involved in the effort has been scattered
across campus, most in buildings offering little room for expansion.
In the new building, College research teams will work under a single
roof in a facility that offers the additional space and up-to-date
equipment they need to continue to lead their fields through research
of the highest quality.
The 100,000-square-foot building will house more than 30 faculty research groups and hundreds of student researchers.
In addition to research-dedicated space, the building will provide
shared equipment and research resources, meeting and office spaces for
the College’s rapidly growing science faculty.
For some, like John Tower, an associate professor of molecular and
computational biology who studies the molecular basis of aging, the
building is a long-awaited bonus. “We’ve been anticipating this
building for many years — planning and discussing what it should look
like, what it should contain — so it’s extremely gratifying to actually
see inside,” he says. “Things are really moving now.”
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