As the summer sun started beaming on Webb’s campus, construction progress took place at the north side of the science building. This involves the removal of the existing Ahmanson Lecture Hall at the north end of the science building. In replacement, Webb is set to make the Bonnie Johnson Hall, a state-of-the-art science lab that will be used for science classes. Let’s dive deeper into what Webb students will be expecting once the Bonnie Johnson Hall is completed, and when it is going to be finished.
“There are going to be two floors once the construction is done,” said Mr. Hoe. “The bottom floor is going to be more storage space for the museum and the top floor will be another classroom that will look very similar to Thornton Lab.”
On top of the Bonnie Johnson Hall being built, they also are going to be adding a new path being made up to the Alf Museum to make the museum more accessible.
While there has been a lot of anticipation and excitement, there have also been questions as to why Webb has decided to take away the Ahmanson Lecture Hall.
“I’ve obviously noticed that the lecture hall is what is being replaced, and I’ve heard that it is going to be replaced by a new classroom, but I’m not sure,” Said Payton Delgado (‘25). “I’ve been kind of curious about why they are getting rid of the lecture hall, though.”
Faculty members have accounted for this transition, explaining that the lecture hall no longer aligns with the Alf Museum education. This method emphasizes hands-on-learning, interactive harkness discussions, and science labs, rather than having students sit in a classroom and listen to a lecture for 80 minutes.
“We would show movies or give large tests in the hall,” said Dr. Brenden Beikmann, Science Department Faculty. “But it wasn’t utilized to the amount that we could have used it, so we decided to update it.”
Because the lecture hall did not meet Webb’s way of educating students, Webb needed a new science lab. Since, currently, there are only four science classrooms, and all science classes do not fit in the same building, some classes had to be taught in other classrooms at Webb.
“Because of limited classrooms, some science classes are held in Fawcet 202,” said Dr. Beikmann. “By upgrading the lecture hall to classroom, we can start to bring back all the classes into the science building.”
However, the project also blocked off a section of the walkway area outside the science building, leading to some complaints.
“With the blockings, I need to take a detour in order to get to Chandler or Fawcett Library classrooms,” said Tina Wang (‘24).
Typically, Webb chooses to complete new construction when students are off campus to avoid inconvenience. For example, the majority of the construction of Mcmillin Park happened during the summer of 2022.
“They did start during the summer,” said Dr. Beikmann. “But it’s such a large project, which includes adding new floors and redoing the whole space, so it takes a longer time to complete.”
As the construction progresses, questions have been raised about when the construction is going to be finalized and ready for the finished classroom and storage to be used. It is estimated that the Bonnie Johnson Hall will be finished in the early second semester of the 2023-2024 school year.
Furthermore, Webb has laid out a plan for the full integration of Bonnie Johnson Hall into the 2024-2025 school year, with “test-runs” scheduled during this school year to assess its suitability and functionality. During such test-runs, some classes will use the lab occasionally rather than their usual classroom, so we can see how the classes function in the new Bonnie Johnson Hall.
The development of the Bonnie Johnson Hall is a great reflection of Webb’s academic plan; it also demonstrates dedication to providing a new and improved science lab to expand Webb students’ opportunities to learn.
