Robinson Laboratory will be the next casualty on campus.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering had the groundbreaking ceremony Friday for its new building, the new Peter L. and Clara M. Scott Laboratory.

“We had the groundbreaking earlier because it was the right time to have the ceremony with homecoming,” said Gina Langen, director of engineering communications.

Around the first of the year, Robinson Laboratory will be knocked down and construction of the new facility will begin, Langen said.

“Robinson Lab is way out of date in the terms of utilities and a engineering academic facility,” said Lester Barnhart, campaign director for the mechanical engineering campaign.

Robinson Lab was built in 1908, over time the needs of the Mechanical Engineering School expanded and the school was forced to make adjustments, said K Cheena Srinivasan, chair and professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The mechanical engineering school needs more space for research activities and better classrooms with better technology.

“Our program has grown tremendously,” Srinivasan said.

The new facility will be possible mainly because of a $10 million donation from Peter and Clara Scott. There were other major donations and a campaign soliciting donations from alumni is under way, Langen said. If further funds are needed to complete the $72.5 million project, it will be requested from the State of Ohio.

The Peter L. and Clara M. Scott Lab is expected to be finished by the in the middle of 2006.

The new laboratory will have three sections. The largest part of the facility is the laboratory itself. It will include faculty research and instructional labs used for hands-on training by students.

The second part of the building will be university classrooms and faculty offices. There will be 14 classrooms that hold from 150 to a low of 22 meeting the need for more and better classrooms, Srinivasan said.

“Better instructional space, research space and better space for students,” Srinivasan said.

The third part of the building will be dedicated to the students. There will be meeting rooms for team activities, lounges for students and lockers for students to use while in the lab.

Once construction on the new facility begins, the lab will be temporarily moved to the ABB Building off Ackerman Road.