After what has been essentially decades of planning and designing and fundraising Montana State University Billings celebrated the ribbon cutting of the Yellowstone Science and Health building for the College of Health Professions and Science, last week. Completion of the state-of-the art, $17 million facility is historic and hundreds of people attended ceremonies marking the occasion on what could not have been a more idyllic day – and just one day before college classes started.

The impacts that the new facility will have “will be far reaching and long lasting,” proclaimed MSU-B Chancellor Stefani Hicswa.

“It’s a spectacular day. It’s a day of new beginnings,” added Montana State University President Waded Cruzado. “This building will be instrumental in the way we teach and educate.”

The building was a long time in coming and not without its struggles. It augments an original building built in 1947. A wide range of supporters, donors and benefactors were recognized as having collaboratively achieved the home-stretch of raising $5 million under the direction of the MSU-B Foundation as it was challenged to do by the Montana State Legislature in granting the balance of its funding.

The 30,000 square foot building includes 16 teaching labs, 11 research rooms and 19 virtually connected classrooms. It includes smart board technology in each classroom, a greenhouse, and cutting-edge labs and equipment. 

Building was done by T W Clark Construction.