Maine’s first LEED® Platinum Science Facility Spurs Regional Economic Growth
East Boothbay, Maine - U.S. Senator Susan Collins will join the Bigelow Laboratory of Ocean Sciences Board of Trustees, Bigelow scientists and staff, state and federal officials, key stakeholders, and over 350 invited guests and supporters from across the region at 2 p.m. today at a formal ceremony to open the Laboratory’s 60,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art science and education campus on the East Boothbay waterfront.
The campus consists of three integrated science and education buildings, along with a shorefront facility and dock: The Walter and Helen Norton Center for Blue Biotechnology, the
Center for Ocean Biogeochemistry and Climate Change, and the Center for Ocean Health. The $31.8 million campus project was made possible by a combination of state and federal grants, private financing, and private donations.
“The opening of the new campus has allowed us, for the first time, to bring all of our science programs together under one roof,” said Laboratory Executive Director Dr. Graham Shimmield. “It’s made us a destination for a wide range of researchers, academics, and members of industry who want to work together to advance understanding of the ocean’s vital importance to all life.”
News came late last week that the new campus, every aspect of which was planned according to the environmental design and construction standards of the U. S. Green Building Council, had met all necessary criteria to be designated as a LEED® Platinum facility. The campus is the first scientific research laboratory to achieve LEED® Platinum status in Maine, and one of seven in the New England area. Only three other businesses in Maine – Hannaford Augusta, TD Bank Call Center, and Coastal Botanical Gardens -- are designated LEED® Platinum.
Architects and engineers from WBRC in Bangor, ME and Perkins+Will in Boston, MA worked directly with Bigelow scientists and administrators to design a campus that fostered the Laboratory’s culture of scientific collaboration and connectivity, and would provide superior infrastructure for the Laboratory’s advanced research needs while ensuring optimal land use, stewardship, and sustainability on the 64-acre waterfront site.
Consigli Construction Co., Inc. in Portland, ME, managed the 27-month construction project, which provided over 250 full and part-time jobs in Maine, with an estimated statewide direct and indirect impact exceeding $57 million. Other members of the project design team include Terrence J. DeWan & Associates in Yarmouth, ME and Thornton Tomasetti in Portland, ME. An independent economic analysis estimates that the Laboratory will bring direct and indirect benefit to the surrounding region of more than $17 million annually by 2017.
“This is an absolutely transformational time for us, and we’re profoundly grateful for the wonderful generosity and vision of everyone who has helped this day become a reality,” said Bigelow Board of Trustees Chairman David Coit. “Federal research grants continue to be the Laboratory’s major source of revenue, but they don’t cover the full operational costs of our research and education programs, making it essential for us to secure charitable contributions to remain an independent and sustainable institution. We’re very eager to welcome new supporters on board to help us fund the future of ocean science.”
Bigelow Laboratory was founded in 1974 by the late Dr. Charles S. Yentsch and his wife Dr. Clarice Yentsch. It is internationally renowned as an independent, non-profit center for global ocean research, ocean science education, and technology transfer. Recognized as a leader in Maine's emerging innovation economy, the Laboratory’s research ranges from microbial oceanography to the large-scale ocean processes that drive global environmental conditions.
In October, the Maine State Council of the Society for Human Resources Management announced that Bigelow Laboratory, which currently employs 70 people, ranked ninth among 32 organizations in its category as one of the Best Places to Work in Maine in 2012.
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