Elizabethtown College’s chemistry department will undergo modernization in the summer of 2023 with changes to the three teaching laboratories on the first floor and the main hallway corridor.
“Musser Hall is nearing 40 years old, and it’s a very well designed space in terms of functionality from a student hands-on perspective,” chemistry professor and department chair Jeffrey Rood said. “It needs to be modernized in terms of tying into the Masters Center, as well as some plumbing and other things that need to be addressed.”
The three teaching laboratories to be updated are the general chemistry laboratory, the organic chemistry laboratory and the quantitative analysis lab. The corridor connecting them will also undergo a renovation.
“This is going to be a huge benefit for chemistry and BMB [biochemistry and molecular biology] majors, but a lot of students in science will be impacted because many take organic and general chemistry,” Rood said. “It’s really a benefit for the whole school of science. General chemistry is a core course as well, so students taking that will be impacted.”
Currently, the labs feature dull wooden cabinets and brown flooring, giving the first floor an outdated look that doesn’t match with the beauty of the Master’s Center. Drafts of the renovations show navy flooring, with lighter cabinets and white walls to match the stylistic mission of the College. It also features open spaces and better lighting than the current laboratories allow for.
Aside from the visual aspect, students will be able to stay in the labs for lecture presentations.
“We’re not only modernizing lab space but also incorporating instructional space to facilitate more of a learning environment with the lab,” Rood said. “Right now, if we want to show slides or have a mini-lecture, we need to go to a different room, but the updates will have audio-visual aspects in the labs, and greater student workspaces.”
Chemistry major and general chemistry teaching assistant Ryan Smith is excited for updated equipment coming in the summer, particularly equipment that can help with extractions. Extractions are used in chemistry to separate parts.
“Right now, we use water to create a vacuum, and there’s 30 students that have the sink running for 20 minutes to create a vacuum,” Smith said. “They’re installing air vacuum filtration systems, which will save a lot of water.”
Another benefit for Smith is simply stylistic, which is the main goal of the updates.
“I think after a while anything simply needs to be renovated,” he said. “It’s similar to when you get a new phone — your old one still works, but there’s just things that it could be doing better.”
Although the renovations are being carried out over the summer, Rood predicted that it would have minimal impact on the Summer Scholarship, Creative Arts and Research Program (SCARP).
“The majority of SCARP work happens on the second floor, so most people will be upstairs in the summer,” Rood said. “We do still have some logistics to figure out with the stock rooms, but we definitely plan to still have students working.”
Currently, the brown halls of Musser feature drafts of what the space could look like in fall of 2023. As students await the changes, they’re still able to carry out chemistry in the labs.
“It’s still a good functional space that we are modernizing,” Rood added.
According to the Chemistry Department’s newsletter, the project’s fundraising goal was $2.4 million, and the department is nearing the full goal, although it did not note how much money was currently raised. Interested donors can visit Etown.edu/GIVE and designate the gift to Masters Center.
