Consigli Construction breaks ground for Bigelow Laboratory Center for Ocean Health

Consigli Construction Co. Inc. announces that its Portland, Maine office has broken ground in East Boothbay, Maine on the third building at the new 64-acre Ocean Science and Education campus they are constructing for Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

Due to be completed in November of 2012, the $11.4 million Bigelow Center for Ocean Health (COH) will be one of three complementary and interconnected research centers on the campus built by Consigli Construction and designed by WBRC Architects · Engineers in association with Perkins + Will. Bigelow Laboratory received major funding for the COH from a federal construction grant awarded through the National Institute for Standards and Technology in September 2010.

The COH joins the Bigelow Center for Blue Biotechnology, which will be occupied this December, and the Center for Ocean Biogeochemistry and Climate Change, slated for completion in spring 2012. The newest facility will house a 16,600 square-foot main building, augmented by a 1,200 square-foot shore facility, with seawater pumping facilities and pier and dock space for research vessels to support field research and SCUBA operations.

“The COH will bring scientists together in a unified facility, where we can develop a multi-disciplinary, multi-scale approach to ocean health that will provide improved management tools to support healthy, productive and resilient ocean ecosystems,” said Laboratory Executive Director, Dr. Graham Shimmield.

When fully completed, the Ocean Science and Education campus will provide over 60,000-sf of laboratory, education and administrative space; replacing the Laboratory’s leased facilities in West Boothbay Harbor. BD+C

Boyd R. Zoccola is Chair and Chief Elected Officer of BOMA International. A BOMA member since 1994, he has served on the Executive, Finance, Investment, and Medical/Healthcare Facilities Committees. An Indiana Real Estate Principal Broker and a board member of the Real Estate Round Table, he is Executive Vice President of Hokanson Companies, Inc., of Indianapolis, and has been involved in the development of $600 million worth of real estate. On a volunteer basis, Zoccola was president of Horizon House and a board member of Girls, Inc. He holds a BA in biology from Indiana University.