IYRS receives $680K in grants for new building, scholarship

TERRY NATHAN, president of IYRS School of Technology & Trades, said the new structure will host state-of-the-art programs. / COURTESY IYRS
TERRY NATHAN, president of IYRS School of Technology & Trades, said the new structure will host state-of-the-art programs. / COURTESY IYRS

NEWPORT – With the help of a $670,000 grant from the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, the IRYS School of Technology & Trades announced June 8 it will build a new 20,000-square-foot facility and consolidate both of its Bristol programs to the updated Newport campus.

The van Beuren Charitable Foundation awarded the grant to help fund the new structure, the construction of which is estimated to cost $6 million, in conjunction with the school’s Campaign for the Future of IYRS program.

Terry Nathan, president of IYRS, said the new structure will host state-of-the-art programs.

“There will be a lot of modern making going on in the new building, using advanced technology and materials like carbon fiber, composites and metals. Alongside our boat building and restoration program that focuses on woodworking, we will have a full range of materials at IYRS,” he said.

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Situated on a half-acre property adjacent to the Newport campus, the new building will allow IYRS to consolidate its programs as well as add new offerings and maker spaces. An additional $1 million will be invested by the school in new equipment, tools and facilities to house up to four full-time accredited programs and laboratory space aimed at collaborative projects between IYRS, other schools and industry partners. Once the structure is complete, the school plans to offer a new program in innovative manufacturing.

According to IYRS, construction on the new facility is slated to begin by mid-summer and will be fully-functional by fall 2017. The structure was designed by Boston-based William Wilson Architects, and will be managed by Farrar & Associates, a Newport-based firm which managed the 2009 restoration of the school’s 1831 mill building.

In addition, the school simultaneously announced a $10,000 grant from the Hagerty Education Program at America’s Car Museum for students enrolled in the School of Composites Technology, the second such grant awarded by the organization to IYRS.

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