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Press Release Date: 8/17/2009
LCSC to dedicate Sacajawea Hall on Aug. 28
Lewis-Clark State College officials will hold a Sacajawea Hall dedication on Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. to celebrate the opening of the institution’s new building for Nursing & Health Sciences.
Idaho Senator and former Governor Jim Risch will join other local dignitaries and LCSC officials during the program, which will feature a ribbon cutting and some short speeches just south of the main entrance to the building across from the LCSC library. The public is invited to attend the free event and the facility will be open for tours following the ceremony.
Construction on Sacajawea Hall has finished and faculty began to move into their new offices earlier this summer. The building will be open for classes when the fall semester begins on Aug. 24.
"Sacajawea Hall and the Sacajawea Arduous Journey statue provide another exciting chapter in the history of Lewis-Clark State College," LCSC President Dene Thomas says" We are honored to be opening this new building, which will greatly serve the state of Idaho. We are hoping to increase the number of health care professionals in both our region and the state, which will benefit everyone's well being."
The ceremony begins with a welcome from President Thomas and comments will follow from Sen. Risch. LCSC Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Tony Fernandez will give a brief history of the project and recognition of several groups who helped with the project will follow.
There will then be short comments from representatives of the college, Lewiston Mayor Doug Havens, ZGA Architects’ Tom Zabala, and McAlvain Design/Build’s Torry McAlvain.
President Thomas and Director of College Advancement Lori Skelton will give comments on the 6˝-foot statue called “Sacajawea Arduous Journey,” which greets visitors by the main entrance.
The $16 million project broke ground on March 7, 2008 and is the home of the Nursing & Health Sciences Division as well as labs for the Natural Sciences Division. McAlvain Construction and ZGA Architects, both of Boise, won the state bid for the project and spent a year working with LCSC officials on the design and functions of the building prior to its construction.
The 60,000-square foot two-level Sacajawea Hall features six classrooms, one computer lab that can also be used as a classroom, seven science labs, three nursing labs, one radiography lab, and 33 faculty offices with space for 37 faculty members. There also some leisure areas with couches and chairs for students. The new equipment in the building will help students learn the latest technology and equipment, including working with life-like mannequins (called SIMs) that can be programmed to simulate symptoms of disease or illness.
The area outside the building allows for additional parking space and the landscape features plenty of new trees and plants, along with the statue.
The new building will eventually allow LCSC to double the number of nursing and radiographic technology students from what it could previously handle.
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