HCCC to Hold Topping Out Ceremony for New STEM Building on January 6
January 4, 2016
January 4, 2016, Jersey City, NJ – Hudson County Community College (HCCC) will host the official topping-out ceremony of its new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Building at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 6, 2016. The event will take place in the Student Lounge at the College’s 2 Enos Place building in Jersey City – near the site of the STEM Building which is now under construction at 257-263 Academy Street in Jersey City, NJ.
Hudson County Executive Thomas A. DeGise will join HCCC Board of Trustees Chairman William J. Netchert, Esq., other Board members, and the College’s President, Glen Gabert, Ph.D. Members of the College’s administration, faculty and staff will also be in attendance for the event.
The six-story, 70,070 square-foot, state-of-the-art building, which is scheduled to open in 2017,will be home to the College’s STEM programs. When completed, the building will have floors dedicated to General Science, Electronics Engineering Technology/Physics/Engineering, Biology/Microbiology, and Chemistry. The steel frame structure with concrete floors on metal decking has been designed with science and computer labs, classrooms and student break-out rooms on each of the top five floors, as well as offices, student lounges, lecture halls, a coffee shop and exhibit space.
The STEM Building is part of the College’s continuing capital expansion plan, which included the six-story, 112,000 square-foot Library Building that opened in September 2014. Last month, the College celebrated the official opening of the Abegail Douglas-Johnson Academic Support Services program in the lower level of the Library Building.
The capital expansion plan also included the $3 million renovation of the Joseph Cundari Center, which reopened in September 2015. The Cundari Center now houses the Hudson County Community College-CarePoint Health Nursing and Radiography Programs.
According to U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, STEM-related employment is projected to increase to more than 9 million jobs by 2022. “Hudson County Community College is dedicated to providing our students – and the members of our community – with the education that will enable them to successfully participate in tomorrow’s STEM careers,” Dr. Gabert said. The College’s robust STEM curriculum is just one segment of the more than 50 degree and 15 certificate programs offered at HCCC.
“This new STEM Building – and all of those included in our capital expansion plan – are made possible thanks to the support and cooperation of our elected officials, the College’s team of Trustees, the HCCC Foundation, everyone at the College and our neighbors in the community,” Mr. Netchert stated. “We are grateful to all of our partners, especially County Executive Thomas A. DeGise and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.”