A new marine science center- one of only two such college-owned facilities in Washington with direct saltwater access-is expected to open in Redondo during spring quarter.

The $2 million Marine Science and Technology Center (MaST) of Highline Community College will provide expanded learning opportunities for students, residents of South King County and the entire Puget Sound region.

Another $500,000 is being raised to endow and permanently fund scholarships, camps and community programs.

"This one-of-a-kind facility will bring together science education, research, and community outreach," Dr. Jack Bermingham, interim president of HCC, told Robinson Newspapers last week.

Located on a pier extending 260 feet into the Sound, the 2,500 square foot MaST Center will feature more than 2,000 gallons of flow-through saltwater tanks in its public space.

Together, these tanks-five aquariums and three touch tanks for children, which will display more than 80 species of fish and invertebrates - will comprise the third largest aquarium in the state, according to college officials.

In addition, the center's 68 feet of saltwater frontage along Redondo Beach will provide easy access to a diversity of natural habitats that are part of the Puget Sound estuary-one of the two largest ocean inlets in the continental United States.

This facility also will house state-of-the-art equipment, laboratories and research areas, classrooms, and offices.

"The newly renovated facility will provide hands-on marine science learning and research experiences for students, faculty, scientists and community members," Bermingham noted.

It will be open to the public weekly and used by K-12 school groups regularly.

Highline originally used the Redondo facility for its Undersea Diving Program, which taught students to be commercial divers. When that program was phased out in the early 1990s, the structure was used to Puget Sound water quality research and as a lab for college biology classes.

The MaST Center opened there in 2003, offering college-level marine science and biology courses and community outreach including programs for K-12 students.

Following three years of planning, the center closed in 2006 for construction of the new facility. Some parts of the structure have been renovated; much of it has been replaced.

"We're 60 days out from completing the superstructure," Bermingham said. "Within three months we expect to have our dedication and we'll be ready to roll."

He described the MaST Center as a "cutting-edge facility for K-12 and higher education alike" that will study and contribute to "the whole ecology of the Sound.

"It will provide opportunities for people to get passionate, to get enthusiastic about science."

Research projects at the center range from partnerships with large research institutions such as the University of Washington to "citizen science"- participation by ordinary members of the public in collecting scientific data that may be used for research.

Types of research that may be conducted at the MaST Center may include the behavioral ecology of Puget Sound organisms, physiology of Puget Sound organisms, invasive species, water quality monitoring, current flow measurements, and comparisons of freshwater input and mixing with Puget Sound water.

"The college now seeks assistance from local community members in raising funds to cover the final third of the $2.5 million necessary to pay for the MaST construction and operating endowment," Bermingham added.

For more information, call Rod Stephenson at (206) 878-3710, ext. 3696, or e-mail rstephen@highline.edu, or visit flightline.highline.edu/mast/.