Carroll breaks ground on lab funded by pair of donors

An excavator tore into the rocky soil east of Carroll’s Fortin Science Center Tuesday, breaking ground on the college’s new civil engineering laboratory.

By LAURA TODE, IR Staff Writer

The 4,290-square-foot building on the campus’s southeast corner is scheduled to be completed in May, and college officials say it will provide a welcome boost to the college’s newest degree program.

Carroll graduated its first class of engineering students in May 2000 and was accredited in 2001. The new facility will provide classroom and office space along with the most advanced testing equipment available. With the new equipment, students will be able to test soils, asphalt, steel concrete and other building materials.

"This lab will provide new components to our curriculum we don’t have currently," Engineering Department Chair John Scharf told a group of administrators, alumni and members of Helena’s engineering community gathered to celebrate the new building.
The entire cost of the laboratory will be funded by Ed and Rick Maronick of Helena, owners of Maronick Construction and Helena Sand and Gravel.

"They are deeply humble young men and probably don’t want me to say much, but let me express our deep gratitude," Carroll College President Thomas Trebon said.
Carroll’s civil engineering program and the new laboratory have been well received by Helena’s construction and engineering community, and engineers from many local firms were on hand, as well as engineers from the State of Montana, and NorthWestern Energy.

"That’s the reason we decided to offer civil engineering at Carroll," Scharf said. "We felt civil engineering was most appropriate for Montana – that’s where the jobs are."

Most of the recent graduates from Carroll’s civil engineering program have chosen to stay in Montana, and many work in Helena. There are now 27 students enrolled in the program. But college officials say interest is high and they expect those numbers to increase with the construction of the new lab.
Reporter Laura Tode can be reached at 447-4081 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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