New Business and Technology performing arts center would be largest in Kentucky

Two construction projects at Eastern are slowly taking shape this spring. Blasting recently began on a brand-new science building, and ground recently broke on the second phase of the Business and Technology Center. Second phase of BTC boasts performing arts center

The second phase of the Business and Technology center is a structural addition to the first phase that will include a brand-new performing-arts center.

The new performing-arts center will be 93,000 square feet and will feature a 60-foot by 24-foot stage.

Associate Vice President of Capital Planning and Facilities Management James Street said there would be a 2,000-seat auditorium with a layout similar to Brock Auditorium. He said it would also include a black-box theater that could be converted to seat more than 200 people.

According to notes from the Business and Technology Complex phase two meeting, a black-box theater has a flat floor, and seating can be arranged differently to allow different views for the audience for different performances. It can also be used for educational activities before and after performances in the larger theater.

"The performing-arts center will focus on larger events such as Broadway plays and related theater events, national musical acts, and other events that have the potential to fill a 2,000-seat auditorium," Street said.

Street also said the balconies could be darkened in order to keep the theater from feeling empty during smaller events.

Eastern President Doug Whitlock said the new theater would give Eastern an advantage in performing arts compared to other Kentucky colleges.

"We think it's going [to be the] premier performance arts center in the state," Whitlock said. "I'm not aware of any that are larger."

Phase two of the Business and Technology Center is expected to be complete in January 2011, Street said. Ceremonies were held for the groundbreaking of the project on March 25, 2009.

New science building construction begins
While current science majors might love moving into a state-of-the-art building, most of them will probably have graduated by the time the building is complete.

Street said the science building is scheduled to open sometime in fall 2011, but also said the opening could be delayed until January 2012.

When the building does finally open its doors, it will bring a few changes along with it - one of them being the classroom setting.

Students will learn in studio labs, and both lecture and laboratory work will occur in the same classroom.

"The idea here is that the experiential side of learning occurs in the same place as the lecture, so there's a direct correlation between the instructor's discussion and the actual lab work," Street said.

Street also said the new science building would feature modern science equipment to aid students in their transition from college to the workplace.

Malcom Frisbie, a biology professor at Eastern, said some of the equipment in the new building would replace equipment Eastern already has.

"We are going to get new microscopes that are state-of-the-art to replace the older ones that don't all work," he said.

Frisbee said some of the equipment would also be brand new.

"We have planned a group of laboratories that will help with imaging," he said. "We are hoping to get a scanning electron microscope, which we've never had before. We also want to get a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometer, which is used to look at molecules."

Street said Eastern currently has roughly half of the $130 million needed for the project. Until the funds for phase two of the science building are received, the Moore building will stay open.

After completion of the new science building, Street said the Moore Building would be renovated for general-education classrooms, and the Memorial Science building will likely be demolished.

"We will expand the Jones lot into the space formerly occupied by Memorial and strengthen the green buffer (grass, shrubs and trees) between the lot and the Ravine," Street said.

Street said he did not know who would get the extra parking spaces once the Jones lot was expanded. The building will not be demolished until funding is received for phase two of the new science building, and Street said it is uncertain when the funds will arrive.

Mandy Jackson, a biology teaching major from Bardstown, said she anticipated the opening of the building - even if she won't be here to use it.

"I think the new science building will be very beneficial to students," she said. "I think the updated equipment will help us prepare for jobs after college. I just wish I could be around to enjoy it.