Stockton University will open its new Academic Quad expansion with a dedication ceremony at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, May 2.

The $48 million expansion transforms the entrance to the main campus, adding almost 100,000 square feet of classrooms space and labs in a new Health Sciences Center and a second Unified Science Center. Huge windows offer views of Stockton’s wooded campus.

The curved design of the new buildings, combined with the existing Unified Science Center and bordered by the Campus Center, create the new Quad design, which features an open area where students can gather.

The new 37,720-square-foot Health Sciences Center includes a Sustainability Lab where students will study issues ranging from solar energy to organic farming.

An exercise science lab will feature treadmills and other equipment where students in the Exercise Science program will get hands-on training.

Patient simulation rooms for student clinical training include separate observation areas for faculty.

The new 58,201-square-foot Unified Science Center 2 features a greenhouse with three temperature zones, physics, organic chemistry, and anatomy and physiology labs, a vivarium, and a x-ray room.

The Quad expansion, along with the new Atlantic City residential campus that will open in the fall, address Stockton’s mission to provide a competitive and high-quality education to New Jersey students.  In fall 2017, Stockton welcomed its largest freshman class ever, almost 1,600 students, a 32 percent increase from the year before.

Funding for the Academic Quad project came from the N.J. Building Our Future Bond Act, with the University providing the 25 percent required matching funds.

The Academic Quad expansion was designed by architects Perkins-Eastman. The contractor is Benjamin Harvey Company, Construction Manager is Hill International and Civil Engineer is Pennoni.

Tours will be available at the dedication.