Hugh C. Bailey Science Center

Hugh C. Bailey Science Center
Former names	Biology and Chemistry Building
General information
Architectural style	Spanish-mission
Location	1500 North Patterson Street Valdosta, Georgia, USA
Cost	$23 million
Owner	Valdosta State University
Technical details
Floor count	3
Floor area	148,165 square feet
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Ingram, Parris Group

The Hugh C. Bailey Science Center at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia serves as the home of the Biology and Chemistry Departments. The facility is named after former VSU President Hugh C. Bailey who served from 1978 to 2001.

History

Bailey Science Center came about as a means of dealing with overcrowding and the lack of space for future growth facing both the Biology and Chemistry Departments. The new science building was designed to take pressure off of Nevins Hall which had served as the science building at Valdosta State for nearly 30 years. Nevins remaining occupants after the new facility was completed and the Biology and Chemistry departments had moved included the departments of mathematics, computer science, physics, astronomy, and geo-sciences.

Construction

The formal ground breaking ceremony was Sept. 26, 1996, and actual construction began in the summer of 1998 on the approximately 148,000-square-foot (13,700 m²) building. The construction contract was awarded to M.M. Parrish Construction, Inc. of Gainesville, Fla. and the building architecture was designed by Ingram, Parris Group (IPG) of Valdosta. IPG enlisted the assistance of Lord, Aeck and Sargent of Atlanta and Research Facilities Design of San Diego to lend their design expertise in the area of laboratory facilities.

Contracted in 1998, the facility was scheduled to be completed by October 15, 1999 at a cost of $19,296,000. But ultimately the building was not completed until late 2000 with a greater cost of around $22.4 million. Faculty of the Biology and Chemistry departments began moving into the new structure in November of that year and classes were first held in January 2001. The structure was dedicated on April 23, 2001 and renamed in honor of High C. Bailey, former VSU president.

Expansion

A ground breaking was held on August 8, 2011 for the construction of a two-story 15,000-square-foot addition onto the southern side of Bailey Science Center. The $5.5 million project, expected to be complete before the fall of 2012, includes two 75-seat multipurpose laboratories, two 30-seat classrooms, and 20 faculty offices. The architecture firm responsible for the addition is Stanley Beaman & Sears, Inc. of Atlanta. The Savannah office of Elkins Constructors, Inc. is providing construction management.

The student population of VSU grew from 9,000 to over 13,000 in the time since Bailey first opened in 2001. The number of biology majors had more than doubled and between 30 to 40 chemistry majors graduate each year compared to two or three in 2000. The new facilities will accommodate the growth in science students while existing facilities will be used more for faculty and student research.

Features

The Bailey Science Center has 22 teaching and 19 research laboratories that occupy the entire north side of the building. In addition, it has four greenhouses on the rooftop; 11 classrooms, including four 48 seat classrooms, and one 96 seat classroom; a large auditorium which seats 275, and a smaller auditorium which seats 148; two conference rooms and 41 offices.