MCLA Science Center Funding Passes Senate
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The state Senate voted 37-0 to authorize the $2 billion higher education bond bill, which includes some $49.5 million toward improvements on the MCLA campus in North Adams.
"MCLA's Center for Science and Innovation will support the ability of the College and the county to be competitive in the commonwealth's ever-expanding economy — particularly in the life sciences and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) sectors," said Sen. Benjamin B. Downing in announcing the bill's approval in a statement.
Funding for the center had been placed in different bills as a way to ensure the center's funding. It had been stripped from the recently passed $1 billion life science bill, but Rep. Daniel E. Bosley, D-North Adams, had said he was hopeful it would be kept in the higher education bond bill after speaking with the administration officials.
The funds are expected to spur the construction of a 28,000-square-foot facility and will allow MCLA to consolidate its science programs and build modern labs, classrooms and offices. The center has been a priority for local lawmakers and business leaders who see the investment in sciences for the area as an economic generator. The life science legislation authorizes $6.5 million for the development of a 30,000-square-foot life science incubator building at the William Stanley Business Park in Pittsfield.
The proposed MCLA center will serve as the hub of development for new partnerships with business and industry, said Downing, and meet the challenges laid out in the Berkshire Compact, which focuses on lifelong learning and the integration of kindergarten-through-college education.
"This critical authorization will infuse the necessary resources into MCLA to provide our students and businesses with the training and educational opportunities necessary to compete with companies in Albany [N.Y.] and the eastern part of the state," he said.
The higher education bond, which authorizes capital improvements to the state's public higher-education system statewide, has been vetted by various legislative panels since Gov. Deval Patrick filed his bill last October.
Downing, Bosley and his colleagues in the House have advocated for this critical authorization for MCLA. This week, Downing said he negotiated with the Senate Committee on Ways and Means to increase the science center's earmark to $49.5 million. Prior to Ways and Means' report, the bond contained $31.2 million for the project, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Higher Education, on which Downing serves as Senate vice chairman, and the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets.
The committees' recommendation of $31.2 million also represented an increase from the governor's original proposal of $22.8 million for the MCLA Science Center.
"This is great news for the Berkshires! We are extremely grateful to Governor Patrick for identifying higher education investment as a priority. These higher education bond funds are critical to our ability to invest in new science facilities and renovate classroom buildings," said Mary K. Grant, president of MCLA, in a statement.
The money "is a very, very big step forward," she said, thanking the Berkshire delegation for their support and leadership. "We are on our way to realizing a vision that has the potential to transform MCLA and the educational and economic landscape of the Berkshires."
Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield will also benefit from the Senate's version of the bond bill. BCC will receive $23 million for the renovation and modernization of the academic facilities in Hawthorne and Melville halls and an additional $1 million for exterior building repairs on campus.
The public higher-education system is comprised of 29 campuses divided into three segments: 15 community colleges, nine state colleges and the five University of Massachusetts locations. The higher education bond bill is now before the House of Representatives for consideration.
