With about 50 watching, brothers Larry and Ralph Cimmarusti, accompanied by other dignitaries, broke ground for the new Cimmarusti Science Center on May 30, signifying the start of construction.

Along with Glendale Community College faculty and staff, Glendale Unified School District Superintendent Jim Brown, state Sen. Jack Scott, D-Burbank, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Glendale, also attended the event.

GCC President John Davitt began the groundbreaking ceremony with a speech that focused on the goals of the new science center.

“We will have a state of the art science center that is designed to not only improve the teaching of the sciences here,” said Davitt, “but also will provide an outreach to the community.”

The physics and biology and chemistry and math buildings are currently undergoing renovation, making the complete science center a complex of four buildings, according to Davitt. “This will emphasize the teaching of physical science and mathematics,” said Davitt.

Support for the project and its potential have been and continue to be strong among staff and city officials.

“This is not some intangible maybe-we’ll-see-it-one-day kind of a project,” said Schiff. “It is materializing before our very eyes.”

Supporters such as Schiff said the science center is important because it will mold careers of tomorrow. The science center will provide students with the necessary foundation they need to excel in the sciences and mathematics, a key to the standard of living in this country, said Schiff. The city of Glendale also plans to utilize the center in helping younger students in the district realize the importance of science and mathematics.

“It [science center] will be an opportunity for even our youngest students to learn the excitement of science at a very early age by visiting this facility,” said Brown.

The estimated $13 million project is being funded through a combination of federal, state and private money, according to Bill Taylor, vice president of business services.

“I am glad that we have been able, as a state, to be supportive,” said Scott, referring to the recent budget cuts that have affected community colleges in California. Even with those recent cuts however, the center is expected to receive about $6.5 million from the passing of Measure G.

The science center is scheduled to be completed by fall 2003.