It started with a fire.
In 2017, the early 1970s building on the main campus looked more like a bomb shelter than any University of Delaware facility housing laboratories, offices or scientific disciplines. But one afternoon, just a few weeks before fall classes began, a fire triggered in the basementsending flames and smoke blanketing the interior of McKinly Labs.
The disaster quickly displaced faculty, disrupted research and pushed faculty into nine different buildings on campus to continue their work. Departments such as psychological and brain sciences, biological sciences, linguistic and cognitive sciences, and mathematical sciences have been without a home for years. Until now.
From its ashes rose what President Dennis Assanis called “a blessing.”
“If you think about it, it was a blessing in disguise to finally be able to reimagine, re-dream and build this facility that we have here,” the university president said, standing on the same grounds Wednesday morning, in a new building. “It’s not a replacement for a previous project, but it’s the dream home.”
Or, Building X.
That’s what the University of Delaware is calling its new, more than $143 million, interdisciplinary science building, which is taking shape on the campus’s main lawn. The project has been in the works for about seven years, and the state has pledged some $41 million in federal money through the American Rescue Plan Act in 2022 to help make it happen. By summer, most departments will make their full transition to the building.
The four-story, 131,000-square-foot smooth brick structure houses space promised to bolster “cutting-edge” research and study in the brain and behavior, human disease and quantum science. It includes a commitment to expand training for Delaware’s healthcare workforce and improve preparedness for any future pandemics.
A dean said at university in 2023 that it would only “solidify the future of our scientific enterprise at UD.”
On Wednesday, teachers and administration came to an agreement. The building finally opened its doors, with speeches and tours that morning. University officials, area politicians and many others gathered in gleaming hallways, spotless labs and open spaces. The multimillion-dollar project they followed still bears the mathematical “X,” which represents an unknown quantity, but the programs are excited to fill the blank slate of possibilities.
President Joe Biden even highlighted the mall’s “beautiful” new building in an exclusive meeting with USA TODAY published the same morning, while noting that UD and Wilmington are pushing for his presidential library.
This floor plan is recommended.
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Develop the collective fabric at UD
Tania Roth remembers the fire.
“That’s where my lab was,” the department chair said. “It was very devastating. And you know, for the Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, that fire forced us to spread out across nine different buildings. So you can imagine you definitely lose the sense of community.”
Next Wednesday, she was in a bright laboratory on the third floor. Building
Roth’s lab studies behavior, how stress can actually interact with DNA, how life adversity can impact susceptibility to disease or mental health issues, all the way down to the cellular level and brain molecules. A lab next to his will focus more on psychological studies to understand the mind and behavior, brain waves, human trials and surveys. Below, assistant professor of neuroscience Austin Keeler will continue his studies of pain and other somatosensory. In the basement, the laboratories are suitable for quantum physics experiments and protected from any vibration. The list goes on.
This may seem random or far-reaching. But with open floor plans, glass walls along most labs, and shared social spaces throughout, Building .
“I mean shared fabrics, shared techniques, shared knowledge, right?” Roth said from his laboratory, as another group of tourists approached.
“Traditionally, biology was in their space, you know, physics was in their space and psychological and brain sciences were in their space. And now we’re all married in this building. … Get the scientists out of their labs and actually talking to each other – that’s how science advances.”
This building will accommodate more than 1,000 students per year and will further expand the university’s research partnerships, according to Assanis. He and other speakers noted that the facility is already attracting attention from universities nationally and will keep UD competitive.
Governor Bethany Hall-Long, I took the oath just a day beforealso welcomed the investment.
“I appreciate the university, our professors, our students and what’s going to come from this – cures, treatments, the best,” she told the crowd. “Who knows, what will be created in this laboratory? It’s the future. It’s the next generation.”
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Do you have a story? Contact Kelly Powers at kepowers@gannett.com or (231) 622-2191 and follow her on X @kpowers01.