Science center makes the cut

With the snip of an oversized pair of scissors Friday, the son and daughter of Charles Lewis cut the ribbon on a radically overhauled Lewis Center for Applied Sciences at Orange Coast College.

It was right in the spirit of their late father, a science professor who was there at OCC’s founding, son Glen Lewis said.

“My father would be amazed at the level of technology here,” he said. “I know he would have been thrilled.”

The new $9-million center, built in the style of the new library next door, began about three years ago when school officials started planning a major remodel. Building took about a year and a half, and a few details, like the brand-new aquarium, are still being finished.

Charles Lewis, killed in an auto accident by a drunk driver in the 1970s, became the namesake for the center in the early 1980s.

Science has come a long way since Lewis’ time, daughter Charlene Haugen said.

“The state-of-the-art was the computer science lab up there,” she said. “I remember being amazed I could practice my multiplication tables on those computers.”

OCC President Bob Dees called the new building a major boost for science education on campus.

“Students are going to walk into this building every day out of curiosity and then walk out in wonder and amazement at our natural world,” Dees said.

The new center boasts larger and far better facilities, said Roger Abernathy, dean of the math and science departments; there are now two marine science labs rather than one, two geology labs rather than one and three physics labs rather than two, he said.

“And once the aquarium is completed, it’s going to set standards for community colleges nationwide,” Abernathy added.

The aquarium will be something to behold when it’s finished, said Public Marine Aquarium Manager Erin Damm, an OCC student. The entirely student-run project will show off marine life from three local habitats to passersby, and many of the creatures inside will be brought there by students.

“The Marine Science 101 class goes on a research cruise and bottom trawl, and whatever they bring up is going to help stock our tanks,” she said.

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at michael.alexander@latimes. com.