NARRAGANSETT

For nearly half a century, the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography has provided a window on the world’s oceans. Now, the school has opened a window on itself.

Hundreds of state officials and scientists were expected to gather Monday morning for the opening of URI’s $15-million Ocean Science and Exploration Center.

The new building is the first one visitors will see as they arrive at the Bay Campus. It is on the site of the former Pell Library, which was torn down in two days. The Pell Marine Science Library now occupies the top floor of the new building, along with a Sea Grant library.

Ocean explorer Robert Ballard’s Inner Space Center fills much of the lower floors, with its banks of sophisticated equipment to record and communicate undersea explorations and displays of 2,800-year-old antiquities providing examples of his discoveries.

But one of the most important features, according to David Farmer, dean of the School of Oceanography, is the lobby that extends from the front door to the two-story windows overlooking an expanded quadrangle and the stunning views beyond of Narragansett Bay and Jamestown.

“It changes the campus in a very significant way,” says Farmer. “It provides a center for us. We’ve never really had a center. And I think it’s something the people of Rhode Island can be very proud of. It will have a very high profile and I think it will attract students.”

The Graduate School of Oceanography is one of the top oceanographic institutions in the country. But as a campus, it has been a diverse collection of buildings erected at different times, with no focal point and no special area to host events and visitors.

The new building changes all that. It replaces a worn structure with a building that is dramatic, green and comfortable to work in. As last-minute touches were done on Friday, Farmer kept asking staff members if they were happy with their new offices. They responded with broad smiles.

The Pell Library, built in 1968, quickly became overloaded with documents, according to Robert Weygand, URI vice president. In 2004, Rhode Island voters approved a $14-million bond issue for a new building.

Following an executive order from Governor Carcieri, the new building was designed by architects Burt, Hill of Boston to comply with green building standards set by the U.S. Green Buildings Council. For example, chambers to capture stormwater were installed in the ground where the library stood. The grounds are planted with grasses and bushes that don’t need watering. Special heating and lighting systems have been installed.

On Friday, workers were spreading topsoil to prepare for seeding a wide quadrangle for student activities. The general contractor is Gilbane Building Co., of Providence.

Several million dollars has been obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies for equipment. URI’s Class of 1959 raised a $50,000 contribution.

National Geographic donated $250,000 in television equipment and cameras, enough to equip an entire studio.

Weygand said there were concerns about having the building blend in with the hillside and not become an eyesore from the perspective of the Bay. One consequence is that visitors approaching from the west will see a two-story building with minimal window space to conserve energy. From the east, the building rises three stories with great expanses of glass bringing views of the Bay into offices, meeting rooms and library stacks.

“This building helps set a standard for the university,” Weygand said. “It reflects the multiple uses that should be part of all new buildings — academics, education and outreach.

The building is part of $615 million in new construction and renovations done in the last 18 years while Robert L. Carothers has been president. He will be joined by most of the state’s top officers, the congressional delegation and top naval officers in the opening ceremony. About 450 people have been invited — among them Rear Adm. Nevin P. Carr Jr., chief of naval research; Richard Spinrad, assistant administrator of NOAA, and NOAA Rear Adm. Jonathan Bailey.

plord@projo.com