JWCC Trustees Approve Bid for Renovation of Science Labs on Quincy Campus
The John Wood Community College (JWCC) Board of Trustees held a special board meeting Monday, January 27, at 1 p.m. to approve a bid for renovations to physical science labs on its Quincy campus.
Trustees accepted the low bid in the amount of $1,567,700 from Maas Construction as the contractor for the project, which includes renovations to four science labs and restroom upgrades in JWCC’s Science and Technology Center. Shaped by input from JWCC science faculty, the labs’ design emphasizes creation of more interactive, flexible, and collaborative spaces to enhance the student educational experience.
The lab renovation will modernize the space, which is crucial for students taking key classes such as Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology and Physics, all of which are foundational to healthcare, engineering, and other pre-professional degrees. The project will begin this summer with construction scheduled for completion by Fall 2025. Architechnics, the architectural firm leading the project, reviewed plans and renderings of the labs with Trustees during the meeting.
All labs are housed in JWCC’s Science and Technology Center, which was the first of the series of buildings constructed as part of the College’s Quincy campus. The center was completed in 1999.
JWCC’s Master and Strategic Plans call for a systematic renovation of spaces based on factors including facility age, curriculum and community needs, and student and public use. In the last four years the College renovated other spaces in the Science and Technology Center to upgrade computer science and graphic design labs and student collaborative spaces. The college works to prioritize projects based on student need and input from key stakeholders including students, faculty, staff, business and industry, and community at large.
“This renovation project is an investment in our students’ learning environment and the region’s workforce,” JWCC President Dr. Bryan Renfro said. “The students who use these labs are the nurses, physical therapists, engineers, surveyors, surgical techs, medical assistants, and even doctors who will serve our communities in the future. They deserve the very best facilities to learn the foundational science to be successful as they pursue their careers. This is not just an investment in our buildings and infrastructure, its an investment in the most valuable resource we have, our students”
The JWCC Board does not typically meet in January. This special meeting was held to better facilitate the project’s construction timeline. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the JWCC Board of Trustees will be held Wednesday, February19, at 6 p.m. on the Quincy campus.
