UK’s new $112 million science building opens Wednesday

Finishing touches are still being added to the $112 million Academic Science Building on the University of Kentucky campus, but faculty members say it will soon become the heart of UK’s chemistry and biology programs.

Biology chairman Vincent Cassone called Wednesday’s opening “one of the most exciting days that we’ve had at the University of Kentucky in which there’s an investment in arts and sciences that goes beyond what we could imagine.”

“This building enables us to teach our students the act of science from the biology to the chemical to the physical, using state of the art technology,” he said.

The three-story, 263,000-square-foot laboratory building on the corner of Rose Street and Huguelet Drive features multiple technology-enhanced classrooms, which allow students to work in groups and with their instructor using multiple digital modes. There are 21 teaching labs for basic science education and research space with sophisticated new microscopes for graduate students and faculty. Cassone and chemistry chairman Mark Meier said they expect about 6,000 students a day will use the building.

The building’s construction was funded in part by UK Athletics, which is paying off $65 million in debt. The other $47 million in debt is being paid with philanthropy and university reserves.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 3:31 PM with the headline "UK’s new $112 million science building opens Wednesday."