09/272/22 CCCC New Frank and Maureen Wilkens Science and Engineering Center Ribbon Cutting

W.T. Rich Company project team members joined Cape Cod Community College (CCCC) students, leaders and donors, as well as DCAMM and Payette Architects, Inc., to celebrate the official opening of the new Frank & Maureen Wilkens Science & Engineering Center at CCCC with a ribbon cutting Thursday, September 29.

A decade in the making, the new two-story, 39,0000 square foot science center replaced the original 1970s-era facility and will now serve as one of the most advanced STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) buildings in the Commonwealth.

W.T. Rich partnered with CCCC, DCAMM, Payette Associates, Inc., and the College’s STEM faculty to deliver their exact vision for the facility and the students it serves. It includes anatomy and physiology labs, a chemistry teaching lab, a biology teaching lab, lab prep spaces, lecture halls, classrooms, a maker shop, a math resource room and multiple offices – all inclusive of the most modern and technologically advanced features that exist today.

Designed as a net carbon negative footprint facility, the new Wilkens Science Center transcends more than just the technological landscape. The project team also collaborated to reinvent the science center’s toilet system to address waste issues within the community. The science center’s “Toilet of the Future” is the first commercial application of its kind in North America and provides an environmentally friendly alternative to other waste management systems.

The construction process, which began in 2018 with a budget of $38 million, was inherently challenging due to the new facility’s proximity to the adjacent, existing facility and surrounding occupied campus. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed additional layers of complexity, as supply chain issues drove up project and building costs across the globe.

Despite the project’s obstacles – both anticipated and unforeseen – the project was completed on schedule and within budget. W.T. Rich is extremely proud to have been a major part of producing a facility that enables CCCC to expand its STEM offerings, and ultimately, address the needs of its students, the community and the Commonwealth for decades to come.

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