Baton Rouge, LA, April 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Five years to the day that Phyllis M. Taylor announced she was making a $15 million gift to honor the legacy of her late husband, Patrick F. Taylor, and help kickstart the Breaking New Ground campaign to renovate and expand the building that bears his name, the LSU College of Engineering celebrated the grand opening of the new Patrick F. Taylor Hall today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by building tours and engineering student demonstrations.
The facility now measures more than 400,000 square feet and is the largest academic building in Louisiana and one of the largest freestanding engineering academic buildings in the United States. It was designed by the architectural firms Perkins+Will and Coleman Partners and was constructed by The Lemoine Company.
It includes a 110,000-square-foot chemical engineering building addition; state-of-the-art labs and gathering spaces like the driving simulation lab and Commons area; the William Brookshire Student Services Suite; the 250-seat RoyOMartin Auditorium; and the MMR Building Information Modeling (BIM) Lab, where students utilize virtual reality to analyze construction projects, make site assessments, etc.
“The resources we provide help ensure that, not only do our students receive the best engineering education possible, but that we prepare them for life after graduation and in the workforce,” said Judy Wornat, dean of the College of Engineering. “I cannot wait to see how our students make the most of everything we have to offer.”
“This is an exciting day for our engineering students, faculty, staff, and alumni and for LSU as a whole,” said LSU President F. King Alexander. “I believe it shows the investment that we as a university and the state of Louisiana have made in our students and their future success, and it demonstrates LSU’s ongoing commitment to solving the biggest challenges facing our state, many of which can be solved through the education and research taking place in Patrick F. Taylor Hall."
Indeed, as part of the Breaking New Ground campaign, $114 million was raised – $57 million from private contributions and a matching $57 million from the state. It is one of the largest public-private partnerships in Louisiana and the most successful fundraising effort by LSU to date.
“This success would not have been possible without the vision, the passion, the leadership and the persistence of our committee co-chairs, Phyllis Taylor and Harry Longwell, and that of Ron Cambre,” said LSU Executive Vice President and Provost Rick Koubek. “Their enthusiasm and energy, along with the other steering committee members and our donors, were resolute.”
About Patrick F. Taylor
In 2007, LSU formally named the Center for Engineering and Business Administration (CEBA) building in honor of Taylor, a 1959 petroleum engineering alumnus. He believed that everyone deserved the opportunity to earn a college degree, regardless of his or her economic means. Consequently, he was responsible for the creation of the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, better known as TOPS.
To download a selection of building photography, both interior and exterior, please visit: https://filestogeaux.lsu.edu/public/download.php?FILE=josh/27092uOlrs8
Patrick F. Taylor Hall By the Numbers
$114 million – Total Cost of Project
410,000 – Total Square Feet of Patrick F. Taylor Hall
300,000 – Total Square Feet of Renovated Section
110,000 – Total Square Feet of Chemical Engineering Building Addition
134,989 – Square Feet of Teaching and Laboratory Space
41,202 – Square Feet of Student Collaboration Space
1,576 – Classroom Seats
272 – Faculty and Staff Offices
250 – Seats in Largest Classroom, the RoyOMartin Auditorium
3 – Years to Complete
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