PROCON Architect and CM
(l-r) Lynn Kramer, project exec.; Todd Hooper, sr. project architect; Christian Roux, sr. project mgr.; Jim Loft, PROCON co-president; Kyle McInnis, dean, School of Health Sciences, Merrimack College; Alfred J. Arcidi, chair of the Merrimack Board; Christopher E. Hopey, Ph.D., president of Merrimack; Andrew Flanigan, Andover town manager; Alex Vispoli, Andover selectman; Marybeth McInnis and Jack T. Boyce, trustees at Merrimack College/PROCON
Andover, MA – Merrimack College kicked off the month of May by breaking ground on a 20,000sf nursing center. The college teamed up with its longtime partner PROCON of Manchester, N.H., the architect and construction manager for the new facility.
The two-story building will house the college’s undergraduate nursing program including six simulation labs, classrooms, student collaboration areas, and faculty offices. The simulation labs will include health assessment, critical care, pediatrics, obstetrics, medical surgery, and more.
The exterior façade mirrors some of the same materials used on the north campus to create continuity. The materials include white, grey, and charcoal colored panels with a “wood” looking enhancement to soften the design and add visual interest. Large storefront windows will allow for plenty of natural light.
Merrimack College Nursing Center/PROCON
With the nursing center slated to open in December 2019, the college is busy taking enrollments. The School of Sciences Dean Kyle McInnis said, “The fantastic response we have had from a wide pool of very impressive student applicants has reiterated the excitement of nursing at Merrimack College.”
Over the last 10 years PROCON has partnered with the college on 10 previous buildings that have helped to reshape the campus; more recently, the Crowe Hall Academic Building and the Dr. Alfred L. Arcidi Center.
The nursing center is the final piece that completes the north campus expansion.
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In recent years, a combination of aging baby boomers, an existing shortage of nurses and the rise of chronic diseases has created a demand in the nursing field. Merrimack College has recognized the medical industry’s need for qualified nurses and has taken enormous steps toward meeting the demand.
Like its predecessor, Crowe Hall’s mock financial trading floor, the nursing center is designed to simulate a real-world hospital with high tech teaching tools, such as programmable wireless mannequins that simulate medical ailments for students to diagnose. The nursing center will be part of the college’s School of Health and Sciences and is intended to thoroughly equip graduating students to enter the medical field. “We are eager to hit the ground running in September with our first class,” reiterated McInnis.
That said, the college’s Augustinian values and mission are perfectly aligned with what the nursing field represents, which is service to others.
