The sun was high and skies were blue when students, faculty, and community members gathered Wednesday afternoon on Carl Sandburg College’s Galesburg campus to celebrate breaking ground on the college’s new Science and Technology Center.
“Truly what we are celebrating today is the next step in Carl Sandburg’s future,” said President Seamus Reilly.
Construction has already begun. The college hopes to have the building complete for the fall semester of 2024.
Other speakers included Board of Trustees Chair Lee E. Johnson and Vice President of Administrative Services Cory Gall. Both spoke of the hope that the new building will become a centerpiece on campus.
It will host the full nursing, math, natural sciences, and information and technology programs, as well as the dental hygiene program and clinic, which is currently downtown.
But the building will serve the entire campus. The welcome center and student services office will also be housed there.
“This groundbreaking here today represents a step in supporting some of the greatest assets in our community, our healthcare facilities, our associated science facilities, which of course support every single aspect of the lives we live here in western Illinois,” said President Reilly.
The new center will be the first new building on campus since 2006, and the most significant construction since the campus was built in the late 1960s. It was designed by The Farnsworth Group, and will be built by River City Construction.
The price tag for the 72,000 square foot space is $30 million.
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