AURORA - The sciences at Wells College finally got their makeover.

Stratton Hall, the school's new $19 million science facility, is open, and classes have been held since August.

This week, the college will formally dedicate the building with three days of events and a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday.

The building is the result of more than a decade of fundraising and planning, as well as collaboration between HOLT Architects of Ithaca and college faculty and officials.

At 45,000 square feet, the three-story building houses teaching and research labs with state-of-the-art equipment, classrooms, faculty offices and a 92-person lecture hall.

Chris Bailey, a chemistry professor at Wells, said the new facility offers more than modern amenities.

One detail he enjoys is that all the benches in his teaching lab face one direction, which allows for better communication with students during class.

In some rooms, wheeled tables can be arranged in traditional rows or a more collaborative, conference-style circle.

Such details, Bailey said, allow for a more modern style of teaching.

“When I was a student, the professor talked in the front of the class for hours, and the students went home and studied,” Bailey said. “If you worked with someone else, it was practically cheating. Now, students are practicing in class and working together.”

The building is named after Ann Wilder Stratton, from the Wells graduating class of 1946, whose $9 million donation helped the school reach its fundraising goal.

Stratton Hall also boasts a two-story atrium and common areas with chalk boards and wireless Internet access where students can study or socialize.

Melissa Miller, a sophomore studying biology, said the building is much more inviting than Zabriskie Hall, the former science building which was built in 1906. She finds the second-story view of Cayuga Lake especially nice.

“It makes you actually want to spend time here outside of class.” said Miller, 18.

Dedication events will include a book-signing by “The Secret Life of Bees” author Sue Monk Kidd Thursday at 7 p.m., a building-wide open house Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. and a keynote address Saturday by Ira Flatow, host of National Public Radio's “Science Friday,” at 3 p.m.

All dedication events are free to the public with the exception of the book signing, which is currently sold out. For more information, visit www.wells.edu/CelebratingConnections.

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.