Credit: The Frederick News Post

Jan. 18—Mount St. Mary’s University will receive $4 million in federal workforce development funds to use on a planned renovation and addition for its science center.

The university’s Coad Science Building was built in 1964 and has “outgrown the existing space” it has available, Mount officials wrote in a news release Wednesday.

The building houses the Mount’s School of Natural Science and Mathematics. It is slated to gain 21,000 square feet with the upcoming $20 million project, which is set to begin in March.

“The new classroom and lab spaces will be technology-rich, multiuse, flexible and configurable for a variety of instructional formats and class sizes,” the news release said. “Specific goals for the building addition include a design that promotes circulation and spontaneous interaction; is flexible and adaptable; and provides natural light where STEM students and faculty in action can see and be seen.”

The university also plans to add neuroscience, computational and microscopy research labs.

Democratic U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, as well as Rep. David Trone, secured the funding via the omnibus spending bill for Fiscal Year 2023, which passed last month, the university wrote in the release.

Members of Congress can present projects in their state or district for the Appropriations Committee to consider for inclusion in the bill.

Mount President Timothy Trainor said in the release that the funding and renovations would “support American competitiveness in high-demand fields such as computer science, data science, cybersecurity, neuroscience and biological, environmental, and physical sciences, as well as contribute to a highly trained STEM workforce for the state of Maryland.”