Hudson County Community College to Hold Grand Opening Ceremonies for Its New STEM Building
August 31, 2017
August 31, 2017, Jersey City, NJ – On Tuesday, September 19 at 10 a.m., Hudson County Community College (HCCC) will hold the official Grand Opening ceremonies for the new 70,070 square-foot STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Building at 263 Academy Street in Jersey City. Several elected officials and dignitaries from federal, state and local government are expected to be in attendance, including U.S. Congressman Albio Sires, Hudson County Executive Thomas A. DeGise, and members of the New Jersey and Hudson County educational community.
Located just blocks from the Journal Square PATH Transit Center, construction on the $30 million, 70,070 square-foot building began more than two years ago. The HCCC STEM Building is constructed to link to the HCCC Cundari Center, which was renovated and reopened in September 2015 to accommodate the HCCC Nursing and Radiography Programs. The Cundari Center includes state-of-the-art simulated rooms in various hospital settings (pediatrics, OB/GYN, general medicine, orthopedics, ER, and more).
As designed by RSC Architects, the six-story, steel-frame HCCC STEM Building has floors dedicated to Mathematics; Geology and Environmental Studies; Physics, Engineering and Electrical Engineering; Biology, Microbiology and Histology; and Chemistry. Each of the top five floors house lecture halls, classrooms, science labs, prep rooms, clean rooms, dirty rooms, STEM computer labs and stations, conference rooms, breakout rooms, suites of administrative and faculty offices, and student lounges.
The commanding exterior design of the HCCC STEM Building opens onto an impressive, 1,500 square-foot, first-floor lobby with terrazzo floors, stone-detailed walls, and a coffered ceiling with light pockets. The first floor also includes a student lounge, lecture hall and exhibit/event space.
“All of us at the College are very proud of this new STEM Building,” states HCCC President Glen Gabert, Ph.D. “What we are most excited about, however, are the programs we are offering here, and the opportunities these programs provide in benefiting men and women of Hudson County far into the future.” He notes that the HCCC STEM programs – including the new Computer Science A.S. - Cybersecurity Option, Biotechnology A.S., Computer Science A.S. - Bioinformatics Option, and Construction Management A.A.S. offerings – will allow HCCC students to prepare for careers that are in-demand now and will remain so for decades to come. Moreover, HCCC students will now be able to pursue these courses of study on the HCCC campus, without having to utilize labs at other colleges and universities.
President Gabert notes that another important aspect of the HCCC STEM Building will be the inclusion of art from the HCCC Foundation Permanent Art Collection, which now includes more than 1,000 works.