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January 14, 2000

ULM breaks ground on Airways Sciences/Computer Science Building

Construction and improvements continued on the University of Louisiana at Monroe campus Friday with groundbreaking ceremonies for the new $8 million Airway Sciences/Computer Science Building.

The ceremonies came less than two months after groundbreaking for ULM's University Plaza, which is adjacent to the $26 million University Library that opened last April.

"This building will be a fine addition to our campus and will greatly enhance two outstanding academic programs," ULM President Lawson L. Swearingen, Jr., said. "We are most grateful to our area legislative delegation as well as our Congressional delegation for their support of this important project."

The Airway Sciences/Computer Science Building, located on the corner of Northeast Drive and Filhiol next to ULM's Chemistry and Natural Science Building, will be a three-story facility with approximately 49,000 square feet. Its design will incorporate several features contained in the University Library.

ULM's Department of Aviation will be housed on the first floor of the facility. It will feature a $600,000 agriculture flight simulator, one of only two in the nation. The Department of Aviation will also house a simulator for twin-engine piston powered planes and a simulator for multi-engine turbo-powered aircraft. The first floor will also feature an aviation museum.

"This building will bring the ULM Aviation Department into the next millennium equipped with exciting new teaching and learning equipment and research capabilities," said John Filhiol, Head of the Department of Aviation. "Among the new items are several sophisticated flight training devices for commercial pilots. There will also be a computer lab complete with aviation-specific software."

The Computer Science Department will be housed on the second and third floors. It will include computer labs, classrooms and faculty offices. Among the features for Computer Science will be state of the art fiber optic communication capabilities for computer systems.

"This facility will provide many new opportunities for our students and faculty. It will strengthen an already excellent program ," said Dr. Dale Magoun, Head of the Department of Computer Science. "This will double our number of classrooms and all rooms will have work stations at every desk and all will be connected to a local area network, the campus network, and the world wide web."

NTB Inc. in Shreveport is the Project Architect and Monroe's Breck Construction is the Contractor for this facility.

This project is being funded 50 percent by the state and 50 percent by the Federal Aviation Administration. The projected completion date is June, 2001. Actual construction costs for the project are $5.4 million, with the balance of the funds being used for flight simulators, computers, architectural design fees, furnishings and other project expenses.

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