Calvin College will officially open and dedicate two new buildings October 22-23, 1999, marking a milestone in the history of the school's four-decade old Knollcrest campus. 
Both new buildings are state-of-the-art facilities that will enhance growing educational programs at Calvin. 
The John "Doc" De Vries Hall of Science (pictured above) is an $18 million building that will support Calvin students and faculty in the life sciences - chemistry, biology and bio-chemistry. 
And the $3 million Engineering Building - including the Prince Engineering Design Center and the Vermeer Engineering Project Center - will provide new research and design space for Calvin's engineering students. 
"This is an historic moment in the history of Calvin College," said President Dr. Gaylen Byker. "Both of these new buildings are impressive. But what is more important is the work that will take place in these facilities. Students and faculty in the sciences and in engineering can come together in these places to learn and work together. The ways that these buildings will enhance our academic mission at Calvin is their most significant asset." 
DeVries Hall (named for a former chemistry professor at Calvin who earned a reputation as a tireless advocate for the role of the sciences in Calvin's liberal arts curriculum) is first and foremost a hands-on teaching facility - equipped with 34 faculty offices and 30 state-of-the-art science labs. The approximately 70,000 square foot building will house the school's Department of Biology and its Department of Chemistry and Bio-Chemistry. It also will be home to the West Michigan Regional Laboratory -- a medical education and research facility that is a collaboration between Calvin and Spectrum Health. 
Calvin's new Engineering Building consists of two working areas -- the Prince Engineering Design Center for design work and the Vermeer Engineering Project Center for projects. The new Engineering Building houses faculty and student research, senior projects, metal and wood shops, and many other project facilities.
NOTES TO MEDIA
More on DeVries Hall, the West Michigan Regional Lab, the Engineering Building and the sciences in general at Calvin College can be found here
A March 1999 New York Times story looked at a building boom of science centers on college campuses across the country and parts of that story can be found here
Pictures of the new buildings can be found here
The Dedication Weekend schedule can be found here
The Dedication Weekend page can be found here