Construction Zone

College of Education building opens at Auburn University

Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, has opened a $77 million, 167,000-square-foot building for its College of Education.

The Opelika-Auburn News reports that since 1969, much of the College of Education has been housed in the Haley Center. Now the majority of the college will be housed in the new facility.

The building provides space for three of the college's four academic units: the Department of Curriculum and Teaching; the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling; and the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology.

108-year-old chemistry building gets $190 million overhaul

The University of Cincinnati has completed a two-year, $190 million renovation and expansion of one of the oldest facilities on its campus--the Old Chemistry building.

The university says the 108-year-old Old Chemistry now features some of the university's most cutting-edge laboratories, the latest energy efficiencies and modern conservation measures.

The facility now totals 207,000 square feet and serves three colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy, according to BHDP, the architect of record for the project.

The updated facility will provide easier access for students navigating campus — along with interdisciplinary lab spaces for students, University Architect Monika Watkins said. The energy-efficient building includes bird-safe glass. The patterned windows prevent needless bird strikes like those that kill an estimated 2 billion birds each year in the United States.

Shuttered school building has new life as STEAM-themed high school

The Syracuse (New York) district has carried out a $100 million renovation of a school building that closed 50 years ago and has transformed it into a high school focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

The Syracuse Post-Standard reports that the opening of STEAM High School is the culmination of a six-year effort to reimagine the former Central High School as a regional magnet. The campus was constructed in 1903, and the building has been mostly vacant since the school closed in 1975.

For its first year, STEAM High will have just ninth graders — about 200. The school plans to add a new group of ninth graders each year until it is fully enrolled with about 1,000 students.

New $179 million campus in New York City is home to 4 schools

A former Covid testing site in the Queens section of New York City is now home to a $178.85 million state-of-the-art school campus.

Chalkbeat New York reports that the Queens Innovation Center will accommodate students attending four co-located high schools:

• The Motion Picture Technical High School, which focuses on film and television careers
• Northwell School of Health Science, which aims to train students in health care careers
• Gotham Tech High School, a three-year-old school that specializes in robotics
• P993Q, which serves students with significant learning challenges.

The six-story, 3,066-seat facility is part of an effort to address crowding in New York City schools.

Former Louisville church will become a "STEAM hub" for local college

Simmons College of Kentucky, a Historically Black College (HBCU) in Louisville, is planning to convert a former church into a facility for STEAM programs.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that transforming the former Christ the King Church in West Louisville into a higher education facility will cost $32 million, and college officials hope to have it ready for students in 2028.

Once completed, the building will be equipped with medical labs, computer-aided design labs, an aviation simulation lab, performing arts space and more, Simmons College Chief of Staff Myra Rock said.

The new campus, dubbed a "STEAM hub," will house programs focused on science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. Rock said the campus will focus particularly on four academic categories: aviation, engineering, performing arts and medicine.

The Archdiocese of Louisville closed the Christ the King Parish earlier this year and donated the 34,000-square-foot building to Simmons College for educational use. 

New middle school for Fort Campbell in Kentucky

The Department of Defense has completed construction of a middle school at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

Christian County Now reports that the 167,000-square-foot facility is replacing the 58-year-old Mahaffey Middle School. The new middle school will hold around 700 students in grades five to seven.

The school has neighborhood instructional areas with 35 flexible learning studios and labs for hands-on STEM activities along with special education classrooms. There is also a gym, a common area for gatherings, and a dedicated performance arts space. Outdoors there is a new artificial turf soccer field and baseball and softball fields.

Michael O’Day, a spokesman for the Department of Defense Education Activity, said Mahaffey needed to be replaced because of its deteriorating condition. It was constructed in 1967 and no longer complied with multiple safety and energy standards. It was the only middle school on the base.

Computer science facility opens at University of Illinois Chicago

The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) has opened a 135,000-square-foot computer science facility that will unite researchers and students in computer science, data science and engineering under one roof.   

The Computer Design Research and Learning Center is organized around a five-story, light-filled atrium and will provide research and learning spaces for the College of Engineering’s UIC Department of Computer Science, the academic home of about 2,100 undergraduate students.

The Center has 16,000 square feet of classroom space, 21 faculty research labs and a 1,200-square-foot robotics lab. The first two floors have classrooms, dedicated spaces for computer science students, rooms for tutoring and teaching assistant sessions and an undergraduate learning and community center.

The upper three levels house faculty offices, graduate student workspaces and specialized labs arranged to foster collaboration and discovery. 

$55 million high school renovation in Mobile, Alabama

The Mobile County (Alabama) district has completed a $55 million renovation and expansion of John L. LeFlore Magnet High School.

Al.com reports that three years of work have transformed the campus that has been a pillar of Mobile's Toulminville community since the late 1960s. 

The project added more than 164,400 square feet of classroom space to LeFlore. The new LeFlore also incorporates elements designed to improve security, such as enclosed  corridors that enable students to stay indoors while navigating the entire campus.

The modernized campus has computer labs lined with new equipment; a spacious media center; a renovated swimming pool; and  spaces for band rehearsals, indoor sports and a culinary program.