NCSSM-Morganton nears completion on major campus expansions

Students at the North Carolina School for Science and Math-Morganton (NCSSM-M) will be having classes in the renovated Joiner Hall and practicing self-care in the brand-new UNC Health Blue Ridge Student Wellness Center by this fall.

Vice Chancellor and Chief Campus Officer Kevin Baxter said the buildings will provide enhanced experiences for students at the school.

“We have been making steady progress on the completion of our campus construction,” Baxter said. “Both the UNC Health Blue Ridge Student Wellness & Activities Center and Joiner Hall will create new opportunities to enrich the student experience at NCSSM-Morganton.”

STUDENT WELLNESS & ACTIVITY CENTER

NCSSM-M’s new Student Wellness & Activities Center will merge fitness, physical health, and mental wellness with clinical and athletic programs. According to planners, an open, faceted lobby destigmatizes and demystifies services for mental and emotional health, part of the universal trend to transform student care using individual- and community-based models.

Two transparent entry areas will pinwheel from the building’s core out to the surrounding campus. Passersby will be able to glimpse into a variety of recreational, fitness, and wellness centers, including gaming, and social gathering areas. A gymnasium with an elevated walking track will double as an event space and will have entrances from the upper academic street and a cross-country running circuit on the lower level.

The center will house a student health clinic, and a meditation garden will complete the center’s vision for a whole-body approach to student health.

School officials said interior mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems are being installed now that the building exterior is protected from the elements. The exterior sheathing and roofing are largely complete with windows, brick, and metal cladding to be installed next.

Building utilities are being tied into the campus infrastructure ahead of the installation of sidewalks and landscaping improvements.

JOINER HALL

The grand hall, part of the former campus of the North Carolina School for the Deaf, sat boarded up behind NCSSM-M’s gleaming, modern academic commons for several years. The building is now being transformed into a contemporary educational space, featuring advanced classrooms for art, data science, and computing.

The ground floor will be divided between two large work areas for the school’s visual arts program. One side of the lower level will be home to a visual arts drawing studio, and the other side will contain a ceramics studio, complete with a kiln.

“The intent is to leverage those massive bay windows so, as you are walking on the main walk here on campus, you can look down and see them (students) producing artwork,” said Baxter in an earlier interview with The Paper.

When work began on the project, the second floor of Joiner was a cavernous, open space. The area will soon be home to new data science and computer science classrooms.

The upper level of Joiner Hall will be home to a modern professional development space that will feature two arc-shaped seating areas with professional seating for meetings. The room will be outfitted with projection screens, making it an ideal space for faculty gatherings.

According to NCSSM representatives, exterior windows and siding panels have been installed on the former North Carolina School for the Deaf building, except for the windows that were left out to facilitate loading in large construction materials.

Interior construction is advancing with mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems installed just ahead of drywall and ceiling systems on all three floors. Most large equipment has been set and is awaiting the completion of electrical systems to be powered up.

Officials said NCSSM-M plans to work with the contractor to begin bringing in furniture and school equipment during the summer to make sure systems are ready for the fall semester.

“We continue to have confidence that each project will be completed by early fall and look forward to opening each building to our students in the new school year,” Baxter stated.