Break ground on science wing

Queens College (QC) officials joined with City Councilmember James F. Gennaro, State Assemblymembers Nettie Mayersohn and Ellen Young and others to break ground on a $30 million expansion and renovation of Ira Remsen Hall, the half-century-old Science Building on the Flushing Campus.
The 29-month project will create a new wing of world-class undergraduate and advanced laboratories, and bring the entire building up to date.
QC President James L. Muyskens said that he was pleased. “We have older alumni coming here saying, ‘It [Remsen Hall] is just like I remembered it,’ and then they find their graffiti on their old desk.” Muyskens admits, “It’s hard to attract the most talented students to an out-of-date facility.”
William H. Hersh, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, barely conceals his excitement. “When I interviewed for a teaching position here 18 years ago, they told me that Queens College was first on the list for a new Science Building. Then the list disappeared,” he recalls. “Now I’ll get to see a state-of-the-art science building here before I retire,” Hersh says.
Paul Broches, architect in charge of the project, is proud of their work. “We’ve planned this out in the most environmentally sound fashion, which also happens to be smart economics,” he said, adding “when a building is this solid, you recycle it- you don’t waste time and money tearing it down.” Remsen Hall was built in 1950. “They built it to last,” Broches said.