May 5 event to officially kick off $68 million project in North Life Science District
WHO: Lincoln D. Chafee, Rhode Island governor; Nicholas A. Mattiello, speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives; M. Teresa Paiva Weed, president of the Rhode Island Senate; David M. Dooley, URI president; Christina Valentino, URI vice president for Administration and Finance; Winifred Brownell, dean of URI’s college of Arts and Sciences; and Sean Peters, a senior majoring in chemistry and biological sciences who will earn his bachelor’s degree May 18.
WHAT: Official groundbreaking ceremony for the Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences, which will mark the early phase of construction on the $68 million center. The center is viewed as a key component in further strengthening the University’s leadership position in the health and life sciences and important in building the state’s knowledge economy. Funded in large part by a $61 million bond issue approved by Rhode Island voters in the 2010 election, the 135,000 square-foot center will serve more than 7,000 URI students who take chemistry each year. About 40 percent of all URI degree programs require at least one chemistry class. The center will triple the amount of space for teaching labs and nearly double the space for research labs compared to facilities in Pastore Hall, which was built in 1953 to accommodate 800 students.
WHEN: May 5, 2014, 2 p.m.
WHERE: Along the construction site in the Rodman lot, 94 West Alumni Ave., behind Rodman Hall and the Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons.
TO MAKE COVERAGE ARRANGEMENTS: Contact Linda Acciardo or Dave Lavallee, URI Marketing and Communications, 401-874-2116.