A groundbreaking ceremony has marked the start of construction on a $200 million Cyber and Engineering Academy Center on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
The academy is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the project. The corps has constructed many of the buildings on the West Point campus, which opened on July 4, 1802.
The new 136,000-square-foot center will be on 5 acres of land near the south entrance of the campus and other academic buildings and barracks. It will house the engineering laboratory functions of the departments of civil and mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science, and systems engineering under one roof. It will replace outdated facilities.
In addition to government funds used for construction, private funding is expected to cover the costs of what are described as “margin of excellence” enhancements.
Brig. Gen. Cindy Jebb, dean of the West Point Academic Board, said, “The facility will profoundly and positively impact our mission to develop our graduates who will lead with character in a changing, uncertain, and technology-driven world. We are thrilled that it will serve to attract quality talent across cadets, faculty and staff in an increasingly competitive higher (education) landscape.”
Silas Bowman, project manager at the Corps of Engineers”™ New York District, noted, “The center will be the first thing new students and their families will see as they enter West Point”™s central area. The center will be the gateway to the academic center of West Point and will stand out as a beacon of gothic beauty on the exterior and the forefront of technology on the inside.”
The center will have four floors, a parking garage and a walkway connecting the center to an adjacent academic building.
The center will be used for cadets to receive training on robotics and drones and will have space to allow indoor drone flight and robotics use.
According to Bowman, “The center will have the same gray and black granite exterior as the other historic buildings on the campus and will reflect the historic military gothic revival architecture of West Point with arches, buttresses and a granite façade, while the interior is high tech and modern.”
The building will be energy-efficient and designed to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certified. Construction on the center is expected to be completed in the summer of 2025.
