Sac State breaks ground on $90 million science building
Joseph Daniels - The State Hornet
Public officials finish taking first scoops of dirt at the construction site where the new science building is going to be during the groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 18. Sacramento State President said that it took three years for the new building to get off the ground.
Sacramento State broke ground on its $90 million Science II building Monday morning.
The building will be located next to the Hornet Bookstore and will hold interactive classrooms, labs and a planetarium. President Robert Nelsen said in a speech at the ceremony that when Science II is complete, 90 percent of students will take at least one class in the building.
Associated Students, Inc. President Mia Kagianas said that the new building will open doors for students in multiple fields of study, not just for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
“I think the science complex is our little Disneyland,” Kagianas said.
Multiple students echoed this sentiment, including physics major Elizabeth Gabler.
“Most of our lab equipment is from the ’90s,” Gabler said, “so getting a new facility with new appliances and everything will help better (our) learning.”
Gabler also said that many required tools are not available or are broken, so students have to make do with what they have and create their own tools.
“In chemistry, we use calorimeters made from Styrofoam cups,” science student Ajay Kumar said. “It would be really be great to actually use new, maybe cutting edge or closer to industry-standard materials.”
Numerous city and state legislators spoke in favor of the building, including Congresswoman Doris Matsui, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Senator Richard Pan and Assemblyman Kevin McCarty — all of whom were present at Monday’s ceremony.
“This is Sacramento State leading Sacramento’s innovation economy,” Steinberg said.
More tweets from the event below:
ASI president Mia Kagianas opens the ceremony pic.twitter.com/J1u5yVWGVx
— Claire Morgan (@jemapelleclaire) September 18, 2017
President Nelsen takes the stage pic.twitter.com/6zRSpF5nOm
— Claire Morgan (@jemapelleclaire) September 18, 2017
“Today with this groundbreaking, we are taking a bold step towards the future,” Congresswoman Doris Matsui says pic.twitter.com/1v7A1MToiq
— Claire Morgan (@jemapelleclaire) September 18, 2017
“It is a signal to young people that they matter,” says Derrell Steinberg, Mayor of Sacramento pic.twitter.com/dvodzNQzdj
— Claire Morgan (@jemapelleclaire) September 18, 2017
(Go to Claire Morgan’s Twitter profile for more)
Additional reporting by Joseph Daniels
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