UGA breaks ground for new science building

University of Georgia administrators broke ground for the school’s next science building Tuesday as UGA President Jere Morehead and others tossed shovelfuls of dirt dumped in a university parking lot for the occasion.

“This project will be truly transformative for our college,” said UGA College of Engineering Dean Donald Leo, one of several speakers before the ceremonial shoveling.

The 100,000-square-foot structure will house research labs and offices for chemistry and engineering, and is designed to encourage collaboration between disciplines, Morehead told a crowd of more than 100 people assembled in a tent erected for the ceremony just outside the building that houses the UGA Museum of Natural History.

The Interdisciplinary Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (I-STEM) Building will cost about $65 million, plus a $10 million attached parking deck. About $45 million is state bond-financed capital funding and $20 million will come from UGA funds. The parking deck funding will come from UGA Transportation and Parking Services revenues.

When the building is finished, it will free up space in UGA’s biology and chemistry buildings for renovation and repurposing, Morehead told the crowd.

Renovations are also scheduled to begin later this month on about a third of Driftmier Hall, the main home of the engineering school. Faculty are also housed now in UGA’s Boyd Graduate Research Building and the Riverbend Research Center.

Enrollment in STEM disciplines is growing at UGA; one in five UGA students is now in a STEM major thanks in large part to the College of Engineering, Morehead said. The 6-year-old college is now UGA’s fourth-largest, Morehead said.

Research grants are also up, and the new I-STEM Building will help UGA faculty garner more, he said.

Construction is expected to conclude in fall 2021.

The I-STEM building is the latest in a string of new science buildings on the UGA campus, with more on the way.

Two years ago, the university dedicated its “Science Learning Center,” with study areas and classrooms designed for interactive learning.

Even as construction gets underway for the I-STEM building, planning is underway for a companion science building. UGA has asked state authorities for $1.6 million for a second building to be erected nearby, at about the same 100,000-square-foot size.