Chem lab, nearly half a century old, gets complete rebuild

In 1962, astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit Planet Earth.

Six years later, Glenn opened a new scientific frontier at Wagner College, dedicating the building we know today as Megerle Science.

That’s how old the upper-level chemistry lab in Megerle 204 was when contractors began stripping out its ancient flooring, lights, cabinets, countertops, sinks and hoods at the beginning of this summer.

Three months — and $250,000 — later, Professor Nick Richardson showed us the new, ADA-compliant facility where Wagner chemistry students will work.

The lab is equipped with one “dry” counter for electronics, central and side counters for “wet” chemical reactions, a brand-new hood to vent noxious gases, and a vented storage cabinet for chemicals.

“If this were a physics lab, we could have ordered metal cabinets,” Richardson said, “but the chemical reactions here would eat those right up. We had to special-order these wooden cabinets.”

The new chemistry lab was built with the generous support of the building endowment fund and the Anna R. Faires Trust.

Scroll down to see photos of the chemistry lab, during and after the construction process.