Bigelow Laboratory Expands, Again

In June Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay will add the 25,000-square-foot Harold Alfond Center for Ocean Education and Innovation to its campus. The center is named for the project’s largest private donor.

The official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Harold Alfond Center for Education and Innovation will be on June 26. Bigelow Lab photo.

An $8 million gift from the Harold Alfond Foundation was essential to breaking ground on the $31 million addition, which is expected to broaden the Laboratory’s business innovation, applied research and education programs. The current facility has three research wings, with no teaching labs and only one classroom.

The new center will provide space to accommodate the Laboratory’s expanding staff and research endeavors. It will include high-tech teaching labs and classrooms. The laboratory facilities will accommodate several new research groups, while newly endowed funds will provide “kickstarter” grants to explore promising, early-stage ideas, according to a news release. A 300-seat forum will serve as a hub for international scientific collaboration and community education. 

In addition to the Harold Alfond Foundation, the project received a total of $13 million in other philanthropic gifts as well as a $12 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The total includes a $2 million maintenance endowment contributed by an anonymous donor, which will permanently support capital repairs and equipment replacement.