Building boom for modern science facilities

OBERLIN, Ohio -- When Sputnik hurtled into orbit in 1957, American colleges took note.

Fear that the Soviet Union would win the space race prompted a flurry of construction at U.S. schools not necessarily known for their science programs. Working with millions of dollars in federal aid, they put up new science buildings over the following decade.

But now those structures seem as antiquated as that first artificial satellite. The result: another spurt of construction as small, liberal arts colleges put up sleek, new science centers.

"They all went up like mushrooms at more or less the same time and they are all, quite frankly, falling apart at about the same time," said Jim Gentile, dean of natural sciences at Hope College in Holland, Mich., where $36 million is being spent to renovate a 75,000-square-foot science building and add a 96,000-square-foot building next door.

A handful of other Ohio schools -- including John Carroll University, Kenyon College and Wittenberg University -- are either constructing new science facilities or recently completed them.

"Science education has changed so much in the past 30 years," said Fred Moore, president of Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, which is building a $26-million science center on the campus of 1,300 students.

Older buildings were designed for professors to lecture in front of a class, and for students working alone to carry out limited experiments.

The modern buildings are being designed for interactive teaching methods, cooperation between students and faculty, and collaboration across scientific disciplines.

Unlike the old buildings, the new ventures at private colleges are almost exclusively funded by private donations.

Most of the new buildings are financed by fund-raising campaigns that the colleges began a decade ago.

Many administrators acknowledge that part of the reason for building such costly projects is competition.

"We believe that to be a first-rate institution and to provide first-class service -- and therefore by implication to attract students -- you have to have first-rate science," said John Moore, president of Drury University in Springfield, Mo., which is dedicating a $19 million science center Oct. 25.