A dedication long-awaited
by Sharron Walls
They lined the stairs and the balconies shoulder-to-shoulder when room in the lobby ran out. Where once a parking lot was situated, a state-of-the-art, $34 million, 189,000-square-foot Health Sciences Building now stood prepared for formal dedication Jan. 19, and the crowd was ready. From laboratories on the floors above and state offices in Atlanta, they came.
“Dreams and visions have become mortars and bricks,” said the Rev. Jeff Flowers of MCGHI Pastoral Care Services, as he opened the program. “Now let us move forward to fill the rooms and corridors with compassionate souls.”
MCG President Daniel W. Rahn remarked that although ground was broken for the building in April 2004, it began many years ago as “the dream” of Dr. Raymond C. Bard, the first dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences. Dr. Lucy Marion, dean of the School of Nursing, which shares the building with the School of Allied Health Sciences, welcomed the guests to “our beautiful new home,” and Dr. Shelley Mishoe, dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences, observed that the school’s growth means they have “already outgrown the building.”
Getting caught in Atlanta’s legendary I-285 morning traffic didn’t keep Linda Daniels, the University System of Georgia’s vice chancellor for facilities, from arriving with greetings from Chancellor Erroll Davis. Legislators on hand included Sen. Ed Tarver, Rep. Wayne Howard and Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver, who delivered a proclamation from the city of Augusta declaring Jan. 19 “MCG’s Health Sciences Building Day.”
Following the official ribbon cutting, several events were held throughout the facility, including a reunion of members of the first graduating class of the School of Nursing in 1958, who came to rededicate a silver punch ladle given in memory of their classmate, Jacolynn Iris Murphy. Dedications of the Dr. Raymond C. Bard Student Lounge, the Dr. and Mrs. Biagio J. Vericella Library and Resource Center and the Dr. Shelley C. Mishoe Library also took place with friends and family members present.
An open house allowed guests to tour many areas, on their own or guided. Housed in the building are the School of Nursing and the School of Allied Health Sciences Departments of Biomedical & Radiological Technologies, Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant, Physical Therapy and Respiratory Therapy.
See Health Sciences Building - Scenes
from a dedication (photo gallery)