WHAT: The University of Rhode Island will celebrate the opening of its new $75 million building for the College of Pharmacy with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking the completion of a voter-supported center for pharmaceutical teaching and research. In 2006, voters overwhelmingly approved $65 million in general obligation bonds to finance the new pharmacy building; $10 million in private donations and University funds also supported the project.
• The five-story, 144,000 square-foot building is the largest academic building on the Kingston campus, houses sophisticated research and teaching laboratories, and has allowed the College to boost enrollment by 50 percent since the bond was approved. The building is expected to earn a “Gold” rating in the U.S Green Building Council’s LEED® rating system.
• Government and URI leaders see the new building as a key to building the Rhode Island economy in biomedical and pharmaceutical research.
• More than 380 Rhode Islanders were employed on the project, from architectural and engineering to construction jobs.
WHO: URI President David M. Dooley, Congressman James Langevin, public and University officials, donors, faculty, staff and students.
WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, 11 a.m. speaking program, with ribbon cutting to follow.
WHERE: Activities begin with a speaking program in the Chafee Social Science Center, Room 271, followed by ribbon cutting outside the main entrance on the west side of new building.
Media are invited to tour building at 10 a.m. To make coverage arrangements, please call Dave Lavallee, Communications and Marketing, at 401-874-2116.
URI President David M. Dooley said the entire University community owes a deep debt of gratitude to the voters of Rhode Island for their support of the bond issue that made the building a reality. “The college is a critical part of the knowledge-based economic future of the Ocean State and with this facility we will be able to develop partnerships with leading biomedical companies, secure more research funding to reinvest into Rhode Island’s economy, attract start-up biotech companies to the state, and allow our young people to pursue exciting and gratifying careers right here in our beautiful state.”