HIGHLAND HEIGHTS - Northern Kentucky University's old science building often had the pungent odor of formaldehyde in the air. The new place - a $38 million, four-story Natural Science Center dedicated Friday - smells like a coffee shop.

        A stand selling trendy coffee is one of the comfortable touches in a building featuring such sophisticated equipment as a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, a high-performance liquid chromatograph and a Sorvall ultracentrifuge.

        “This is a real science building,” said Dr. William Oliver, chairman of NKU's science department. “The other one was built in 1974. It was crowded. We never had the ventilation 1/2hellip 3/4 the labs, the equipment, the space or the other things we needed to be a true science building.”

        NKU's science center opened in August but was dedicated Friday during a 45-minute ceremony on the school's Highland Heights campus. Several university and local officials, business leaders, students and others attended the ceremony.

        Gov. Paul Patton was absent; he stayed in Frankfort to tend to his unfolding sex scandal.

        Several of the event's speakers, including NKU President Dr. James Votruba and Board of Regents Chairwoman Brenda Wilson, thanked the governor for his support but did not mention his absence.

        Dr. Votruba kept most of his comment to praising the building and those who helped make it happen, including lawmakers who supported the project and corporations that have contributed money to help equip the building.

        “The Natural Science Center is a magnificent structure,” Dr. Votruba said. “It shows what can be achieved when campus and community leaders work together on a shared dream.

        “However, it is the role that it will play in teaching and learning that will have the most lasting and profound impact,” he said. “With faculty clustered across disciplines and sharing classrooms and laboratories, the facility is designed to promote education both within and at the intersections of the science disciplines.”

        The $38 million in state money paid for construction, furniture and some equipment, but not everything in the four-story, 172,000-square-foot building. Another $6 million was raised from companies, foundations and donors to pay for much of the sophisticated equipment and labs in the center. Dr. Votruba raised most of that.

        . “I'm absolutely convinced we have the best-equipped science department in the state for undergraduates, and one of the best in the country.” Dr. Oliver said.

        Donors included Ashland Inc., Procter & Gamble, Federated Department Stores, Cincinnati Bell and The Rieveschl Foundation.

        The building features nine classroom/lecture halls, 48 labs, faculty offices and student lounges. It is the most expensive building every built on a state-run college campus.

        In the old building's chemistry labs there was poor ventilation and few workstations. In the new building, each student will have an individual workstation with a ventilation hood for fumes.

        “The quality of the labs is the biggest difference,” Dr. Oliver said.

        Every classroom is equipped with “smart technology” systems that can easily project images, journals, lessons and more on a video screen. There are also computer labs for research or assignments.

        Companies will be invited in to use some of the equipment for their own work or research, said Dr. Phil Schmidt, director of NKU's Center for Integrative Natural Science and Mathematics.

        Elementary and high school teachers will also use the center for workshops, field trips and research, Dr. Oliver said.

        Patton No. 1 topic at NKU dedication
        Patton tearfully admits affair

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