![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/08\/210823_Bonney_Ribbon_Cutting_0686.webp\")
\u201cLet’s raise our glasses to discovery and happiness,\u201d proclaimed a smiling Spencer, \u201cand to the Bonneys and all the other donors and contributors who have helped along the way.\u201d (And it does make a certain kind of sense that you\u2019d cut ribbon to wrap up a project.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ceremony capped months of intense focus on readying the building for its inaugural school year. And it took place just a week after the last of the faculty occupants moved in. They were biologists Lori Banks and Ryan Bavis \u2014 the latter a co-chair, with Vice President for Finance and Administration Geoff Swift, of the committee that steered the planning for the Bonney Center and related projects.<\/p>\n\n\n
Weather sent the ribbon-cutting inside, to the foot of the so-called Monumental Stair. All masked up, dozens of people close to the project attended the event, which began with remarks in a classroom and then moved to a spiffy lounge, the Living Room, for refreshments and the ribbon ceremony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFive years ago, Alison and I had a view that a more science-literate society was something [the nation] had to have,\u201d Mike Bonney told the gathering \u2014 a view now set in stone as the Bonney Science Center. \u201cAnd you just have to look at the headlines every day to understand how society would benefit, in the U.S. and globally, with more science-literate members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He concluded with a shout-out to Bavis, who, he noted, led the faculty effort to design this building. \u201cI had a minute to see him before we came into this room and he said, \u2018Mike, it’s what we envisioned.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Spencer thanked folks whose contributions helped make the Bonney Center a reality \u2014 folks such as donors; Bates\u2019 Swift, Director of Capital Planning and Construction Pam Wichroski, Senior Project Manager Chris Streifel, and Construction Administrator Jacob Kendall; and staff at construction management firm Consigli and building design firm Payette. In its sophistication and complexity, Spencer pointed out, \u201cthis was not an easy building to build.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michael Hinchcliffe, a principal at Payette and lead designer of the Bonney Center, told a nice story about some tools, gathered over the years, that his father gave him as a housewarming gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His father told him, “This is a set of tools that you’ll need. Whenever you try to do something, use the right tool. It will help you make the work good. It will make the work easy and it will allow you to take pride in your work.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor me,\u201d Hinchcliffe said, \u201cthe Bonney Science Center today is a little bit like those tools. It is a gift that the Bonneys and the other donors are giving Bates today to solve problems, to create things that we can only dream about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The center, Hinchcliffe continued, \u201cwill launch the careers of countless new scientists, starting with the spark of inspiration from the amazing faculty here. It will be a place where every student at Bates will gain an inspiration and a foundation in knowledge and facts and science.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier in the day, Campus Construction Update asked Streifel what was left to say about the Bonney project. \u201cBring on the students!\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it’s also true that, over the next year or so, \u201cthere\u2019ll be a process of identifying what I call enhancements or sometimes \u2018Day Two\u2019 items.\u201d As in, \u201cWe need five more stools over here. We need a bookshelf over there. These tables are great, but they don’t work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said, \u201cA lot of that kind of stuff is starting to percolate onto lists, and we’ll be absorbing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A science center signboard shown on Aug. 23, a few hours before a ribbon-cutting celebrated the building’s completion. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> The Bonney Science Center seen from in front of Chase Hall on Aug. 23, 2021. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> The Bonney Science Center in rendering and reality on Aug. 23, 2021. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> With fume hoods lining the walls and a large counter for students, this biology lab on the Bonney Center’s first floor is essentially ready for action. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> The glass front of a fume hood in the Bonney Center lab of Andrew Kennedy, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is the ideal place to make notes for a lab process. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> Tour goers stop by the light-filled lounge on the second level of Bonney Science Center, which offers a commanding view of campus through windows of the Beacon. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> The Beacon is prominent in this image of the Bonney Science Center from August 19, 2021. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> A student’s-eye view of a Bonney Science Center classroom. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> After the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 23, 2021, Associate Professor of Biology Larissa Williams gives a tour of her new laboratory space in the Bonney Science Center. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> Suddenly we’re hungry for pie: A look down through the Bonney Center’s Monumental Stair reveals a variety of wedge-shaped views. The bright green is a visual hallmark of building designer Payette. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> The Bonney Center’s first-floor Living Room is shown a few hours before an Aug. 23 ribbon-cutting ceremony that filled the space with stakeholders in the years-long Bonney construction project. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> The chemistry instrumentation room in the Bonney Science Center. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> Looking toward Nichols Street down a third-floor Bonney Center hallway. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> It wouldn’t be a Campus Construction Update without at least one image of workers in manlifts. In this July 22 photo, roofers are working on trim at the edge of the Bonney Center’s lid. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> And here’s where it all began: the future Bonney Center site, seen from a point in front of Chase Hall, in early March 2019 \u2014 just prior to the start of construction. (Doug Hubley\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div> Demolition derby<\/strong>: Meanwhile, if Streifel is still busy with Bonney, what\u2019s brighter on his radar screen these days is the repurposing of Dana Chemistry Hall. Interior demolition began there in July \u2014 at which time, moreover, a construction zone was established that blocks foot traffic between Dana and Hedge, and along the service road behind Ladd Library. (Don’t say we didn’t warn you!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we\u2019ve written before<\/a>, the Bonney Center resulted from a strategic process, begun in 2016, in which Bates engaged Payette to help reconfigure campus science facilities to better meet evolving needs. The rebuilding of Dana is a second result of that process. (And a third will be a variety of upgrades to Carnegie Science Hall. The three projects together are budgeted at some $75 million.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, Payette\u2019s goals with the Dana overhaul are, first, simply to make it a friendlier building; and second, to transform it into a teaching center with an emphasis on introductory science. The first floor will be dedicated to intro chemistry, and the third will house biology labs and a general-purpose teaching lab. The second floor, Streifel explained, \u201cbecomes three beautiful, large, general-purpose classrooms.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne reason that Dana was a good candidate for this renovation is that [classroom locations are] not chopped up by structural elements\u201d such as load-bearing columns. \u201cSo classrooms can be sizable. And there are good windows all around the perimeter, so they\u2019ll be well-lit,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd it\u2019s right in the corner of the Historic Quad, with all the students coming through, right where we want classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n Structurally, the project entails the removal of some central interior masonry walls and other partitions to improve sight lines and traffic flow. As Streifel explained, \u201cThe core right now is a maze of small spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So while two load-bearing masonry walls and some other features will stay put, \u201calmost everything else is removed. And that’s a lot of masonry and old partitions. The goal is to free up that core for a more transparent building,\u201d in keeping with the openness imparted by glass and open space inside Bonney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Payette\u2019s aesthetic touch will be evident in other ways, too, in the new Dana. \u201cYou\u2019ll see a lot of the same design themes and materials, and a lot of the equipment will be the same,\u201d said Streifel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of this week, what was destined for removal has been removed from Dana\u2019s basement and the attic, more or less. That\u2019s especially true for the attic, which for decades was filled with air-handling machinery and storage spaces but at the moment resembles, as much as anything, the inside of a barn \u2014 a lot of bare boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust a few months ago, faculty were still working in that building, and now it’s barely recognizable,\u201d said Streifel. \u201cWhen I go in the attic, I’m blown away by it \u2014 \u2018This is the same building?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happening next is the placement of new insulation and wallboards over the old naked wood of the roof and walls, and then, in time, the installation of new HVAC machinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The basement, meanwhile, is where building-wide electrical infrastructure will live. But first, floor drains need to be installed and that\u2019s going on now: Neat trenches have been cut into the concrete floors into which the drain fittings and the pipes will be set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And what of levels One through Three? Demolition continues, followed by hazardous-material abatement. Demolition in progress looks like hell \u2014 ceiling tiles on the floor, wall fixtures and furnishings yanked out of place, ripped-out cables and other debris strewn around \u2014 but actually performing the work must be a cathartic kind of fun, at least for the first 30 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lakeside Concrete Cutting and Abatement of Newport, Maine, \u201cis doing all of the demo and abatement, which is a pretty sizable package,\u201d said Streifel. \u201cThey’ve got another a month and a half roughly of demo and abatement before the building is truly done with that and we\u2019re fully engaged in the rebuilding process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This halyard ground<\/strong>: Knocked noticeably out of plumb by a falling tree years ago, the old flagpole in front of Hathorn was replaced in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bates\u2019 longtime flag supplier, locally owned TriState Flag, provided and installed the new pole. Strong and lightweight, at least compared with the old metal pole, the new pole is a fiberglass “Zeus” model made by PLP Composites in Fitzwilliam, N.H. Like the pole it replaced, the Zeus is about 60 feet high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we\u2019ve previously noted, sand is a sort of Swiss Army Knife of construction materials (another metaphor that never should have left the factory!), and it plays a crucial role in the world of flagpole installation. A pole is set into the ground within a cylinder that’s just a little wider (do they call it a pole vault?), and the gap is filled with sand. <\/p>\n\n\n While some workers ensure that the pole is kept plumb, others thump the pole with a rubber mallet to compact the sand with the vibrations. To finish, the circumference of the pole at ground level is tightly sealed against moisture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, if you need to remove the pole, you can just vacuum out the sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another familiar firm, Carrier Landscaping, tended to new land- and hardscaping around the pole. \u201cWe also had support from the grounds crew, electricians, carpenters, and others in Facility Services, so the project has been a real team effort,\u201d said Jay Phillips, director of facility services operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The original flagpole was presented by the College Club and the Alumni Fund in June 1931, accompanied by a plaque inscribed “One Flag, One Land, One Heart, One Hand, Our Nation Evermore.” Ninety years later, the Class of 1967 has made the funding for the flag pole part of its 55th Reunion giving effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Summer projects redux<\/strong>: Finally, updates on summer projects that we told you about last time, or should have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two updates to Hathorn Hall are more or less complete. Inside, new chalkboards have been installed in a few classrooms, a process that exposed older blackboards that still bore faculty scribblings from who knows when. That work also entailed the replacement of ceiling tile and refinishing of walls and trim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Hathorn\u2019s roof, new slate, copper, and rubber coverings are in place. \u201cThe existing roof decking is in amazing condition after many years under the old slate,\u201d noted project manager Bob Leavitt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, Deblois Electric has replaced all the old incandescent lighting fixtures above the audience seats with energy-efficient LED units. An early concern was the potential high cost of erecting conventional scaffolding to elevate the electricians to ceiling level, but project manager Paul Farnsworth found a reasonably priced provider of structures specifically for lamp replacement projects in awkward spaces like churches and auditoriums: LightbulbScaffold.com of Shreveport, La.<\/p>\n\n\n Over at the campus heating plant, the conversion of Boiler No. 3 to burn carbon-neutral LR-100 vegetable oil has been briefly paused due to delayed delivery of the inline fuel heater. That should arrive by the end of September, and testing is slated for early October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, project manager Shelby Burgau reports that the installation of new MODAL flooring and new batting cages in the Gray Athletic Building is complete. \u201cThere were no surprises and everything looks great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can we talk<\/strong>? Campus Construction Update welcomes queries and comments about current, past, future, timeless, and \u201cthat never happened \u2014 or did it?\u201d construction at Bates. Write to dhubley@bates.<\/a>edu<\/a>, putting \u201cCampus Construction\u201d in the subject line. And Fran K. for reading this month’s CCU!<\/p>\n\n\n With a champagne toast and synchronized chops from ceremonial ribbon-cutting shears, the Bonney Science Center was declared open for business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":141534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[217,11009],"tags":[11942,1932,12269],"class_list":["post-141360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","category-the-college","tag-bonney-science-center","tag-campus-construction-updates","tag-dana-hall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141360"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172036,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141360\/revisions\/172036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/08\/210823-tone_Bonney_Ribbon_Cutting_0015.webp\")
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