WESTFIELD – According to a statement released by Westfield State University yesterday the university has been advised by state Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Freeland of the restoration of a $2 million appropriation for a new science center.
The proposed center has served as a lightning rod of controversy in recent weeks, as it’s funding was temporariliy suspended for a short time due to the ongoing investigation involving the spending practices of recently retired University President Dr. Evan Dobelle.
“Westfield State University would like to thank Commissioner Freeland for recognizing the importance and need for the science center and his recommendation that funding for the project ‘be reinstated and move forward with deliberate speed,'” the statement read. “Restoring the $2 million appropriation is a vote of confidence in the future of the university and most importantly, in the students of Massachusetts who will benefit from access to a state-of-the-art science facility.”
Officials at the school say that the proposed Westfield State Science Center is essential to the university’s STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math programming, in addition to it’s recently accredited nursing program, and a planned health sciences degree.
“Additionally, biology and environmental science, the only one at a state university, are among the fastest growing majors at the university and the growth of these programs has pushed the demand for space past current lab capacity,” the statement read.
The University STEM project has been in development for half a decade, and has been a collaborative process led by the Westfield State Science Center Steering Committee, in conjunction with the Massachusetts’s Departments of Higher Education, Administration & Finance, and the Commonwealth’s Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance.
According to the statement, all funds related to the building and maintenance of state property are released to and managed by the project principle, the DCAMM.
Cambridge Seven Associates has been brought aboard to design the building, which looks to be approximately 54,000 square foot, the construction of which is all set to break ground next fall.
