Housatonic Community College (HCC) President Paul Broadie II led the official celebration of the new Lafayette Hall expansion with a ribbon-cutting Monday attended by Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU) President Mark Ojakian, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim and other worthies.
The $47 million project added 47,000 square feet of new, LEED Silver Certified classrooms, studios, labs and offices along with 28,500 square feet in renovations to adjacent spaces on the downtown Bridgeport campus.
“This expansion and the renovations have allowed us to create a one-stop [facility] to centralize student services designed to best serve our students,” said Broadie. “It has allowed us to develop innovative state-of-the-art, technology-rich science and art facilities, expand academic support services, transform our library, grow our manufacturing program and infuse the campus with industry-specific equipment allowing us to enrich the student learning experience and best prepare our students for success.”
Construction of the four-story Lafayette Hall expansion project began in 2015. Hartford-based Amenta Emma Architects worked with CSCU and HCC officials, guided by HCC’s master plan, to design a welcoming space with “a proud new persona in downtown Bridgeport” that radically changed the college’s relationship to the street and the city’s urban fabric, Broadie said.
Contact Michael C. Bingham at mbingham@newhavenbiz.com
