Biology and chemistry students headed to Syracuse University within the next decade will have the benefit of studying and working in the new, state-of-the-art science facility that was announced Wednesday by Chancellor Nancy Cantor and other university officials.

The new Life Sciences Complex will be connected to the Center for Science and Technology building on College Place and will feature state-of-the-art laboratories, lecture halls, classrooms and a new greenhouse, said John Russell, chair of the biology department.

‘(The complex) will help both our teaching and research functions here on campus,’ Russell said.

Russell said both the biology and chemistry departments will be located in the new complex, which he said is a significant move because chemistry and biology are closely related.

‘For the first time, everything is going to be in one building,’ Russell said. ‘It allows us to interact in a different way than when we were separated by a block.’

Currently, the biology department is divided up between classrooms in Lyman Hall, Walters Hall and the Biological Research Laboratories building off of Euclid Avenue.

Russell said the new complex also allows the science departments to hire new professors for the expanding program. So far, the biology department has hired 10 new professors and will continue to add one or two more each year until the complex is completed.

‘It has given us the opportunity to build a strong new faculty,’ Russell said.

Another advantage of the new complex is that it will free more space up in the classrooms chemistry and biology classes currently take place in, said Mike Flusche, associate vice chancellor at SU.

‘(The complex) gives us space to address many other needs of the campus,’ Flusche said. ‘You build the facility for one department and it frees space for others.’

Flusche helped plan the Life Sciences Complex in its early planning stages.

The Life Sciences Complex will be built on the site of a parking lot currently next to the CST building, Flusche said. The building’s construction will necessitate more parking to be made available elsewhere on campus.

Russell said SU has an agreement with the city of Syracuse that whenever the university builds something that takes up parking, new parking options must be provided.

‘There won’t be a net loss in parking places,’ Russell said.

Flusche said plans are already in place to build a new parking facility on Comstock Avenue, across from Haven Hall, to solve the parking problem. The new parking facility will be built before the complex is completed, Flusche said.

Matthew Snyder, communications manager of SU News Services, said the parking garage on University Avenue has already opened up 820 new parking spots in preparation for future renovations to the campus.

The Life Sciences Complex is estimated to cost $107 million. Approximately $90 million of the total cost will come from university bonds, while the remaining funding will come from private donations and fundraising events, Flusche said.

Construction is planned to begin in 2006 and be completed by fall of 2008.

Published on March 30, 2005 at 12:00 pm