Lee University Opens Phase I of Complex
Students leave the completed Phase One of the science and math complex at Lee University, while construction continues on Phase Two.
Classes began last week at Lee University, the Church of God’s premier educational institution. When students arrived, Phase One of a $14 million science and math complex was ready and waiting.
The east wing of the v-shaped complex was completed earlier this month before students arrived. Faculty and staff at Lee have been busy stocking bookshelves in the two dozen faculty offices, unpacking and setting up new science equipment. When classes began on August 19, three floors of laboratories, classrooms, computer labs and faculty offices were furnished and functional for the fall 2009 semester at Lee.
Construction on the science and math complex began in the summer of 2008 after more than a decade of planning on the part of school officials and science faculty. Until last May, the former Beach Science Building operated within a few feet of the construction of the new complex. In late May, the Beach Building was razed to make way for Phase Two which is now under construction and on track for a 2010 opening.
Phase Two will include two levels of classrooms, seminar rooms, faculty offices and a lecture hall. The two phases will be joined in the middle by a massive, open air commons which is also in mid-construction. The commons sports a large tower which is now the tallest point on the 120 acre campus. Earlier this summer a shiny copper capstone was lowered into place on the tower.
The new science and math complex is the final project of what has become a $30 million capital campaign called Pressing Toward the Mark. The funds drive has realized an improved campus infrastructure for computer connectivity, new scholarships and several new buildings in addition to the science complex. Those include an enlarged Paul Dana Walker athletic arena, health clinic and student townhomes.
