Consigli Construction Co., Inc. has broken ground on the third building at the new 64-acre Ocean Science and Education campus they are constructing for Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.
Due to be completed in November of 2012, the $11.4 million Bigelow Center for Ocean Health (COH) will be one of three complementary and interconnected research centers on the campus built by Consigli Const. and designed by WBRC Architects · Engineers in association with Perkins + Will. Bigelow Laboratory received major funding for the COH from a federal construction grant awarded through the National Institute for Standards and Technology in September 2010.
The COH joins the Bigelow Center for Blue Biotechnology (BCBB), which will be occupied this December, and the Center for Ocean Biogeochemistry and Climate Change (COBCC), slated for completion in spring 2012. The newest facility will house a 16,600 s/f main building, augmented by a 1,200 s/f shore facility, with seawater pumping facilities and pier and dock space for research vessels to support field research and SCUBA operations.
"The COH will bring scientists together in a unified facility, where we can develop a multi-disciplinary, multi-scale approach to ocean health that will provide improved management tools to support healthy, productive and resilient ocean ecosystems," said laboratory executive director, Dr. Graham Shimmield.
When fully completed, the Ocean Science and Education campus will provide over 60,000 s/f of laboratory, education and administrative space; replacing the Laboratory's leased facilities in West Boothbay Harbor.