North Shore Community College in Danvers, Mass., is overhauling its life science campus

North Shore Community College in Danvers, Mass., is redesigning and upgrading its life sciences program building. 

The building was originally a factory building that was later converted in the early 1990s to an academic building.

The project will establish a new Life Science Pathways Center on the campus. It will renovate six biology, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, biotechnology and prep labs, as well as upgrade the air system and lab technology, reports The Salem News. 

The project costs about $14 million and recently picked up support at the state level with a bond commitment from the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance.

The project will also bring "clean rooms" to the campus. Clean rooms are different from other labs in that they have highly regulated air quality, temperature and humidity controls to protect and enable the use of sensitive equipment.

The labs serve 2,000 students per year, but college officials expect the renovations to boost seating capacity in the labs by nearly 20%, from 96 seats to 114.  

Construction is scheduled to begin in the 2022-23 academic year.