SUNY Adirondack breaks ground on construction projects

SUNY Adirondack officially began construction on the college's NSTEM and Workforce Readiness Center projects on Thursday during a Groundbreaking Ceremony at the Queensbury campus.

The projects, which include a $17 million building for NSTEM (nursing, science, technology, engineering and math) and a $9.7 million Adirondack Regional Workforce Readiness Center, will be attached to the college’s existing science building.

"Today we broke ground on two significant projects to advance science and health-care education and expand our ability to prepare the workforce of the 21st century. We are excited about the future for our students and this community," said SUNY Adirondack President Kristine Duffy.

NSTEM construction will begin immediately and run through August 2017, with a scheduled opening for the Fall 2017 semester. Construction of the Adirondack Regional Workforce Readiness Center will begin in the spring, with a projected completion date of the Spring 2018 semester.

The state-of-the-art facilities will encourage interaction and collaboration across disciplines and welcome community partnerships and regional business development.

New York state and Warren and Washington counties invested $28.8 million in initiatives at SUNY Adirondack. To coincide with the building projects, the SUNY Adirondack Foundation recently launched Reach New Heights, a $2.1 million matching campaign supporting STEM education, student success and workforce and economic preparedness. The generosity of the community will be matched by the State of New York, which will invest $1.6 million to provide state-of-the-art fixtures, furnishings and equipment for the new buildings.

The Reach New Heights campaign is chaired by Tenee Casaccio, Managing Principal for JMZ Architecture, and William Hart, VP of US Business Operations for Irving Consumer Products.

"We are excited to engage the generosity of our community and grow student opportunity at SUNY Adirondack," the co-chairs said. "The philanthropic investment of individuals and businesses in our region is strong because they recognize that these projects will strengthen our community through education and workforce development."