Westfield State University to Cut Ribbon at Renovated Parenzo Hall

WESTFIELD — Westfield State University will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated Parenzo Hall on Friday, Oct. 13 at 11 a.m. at the entrance to the building.

The more than $40 million project, a partnership with Westfield State University and the Massachusetts Division of Capital Assets Management and Maintenance, started its planning phase in 2018 and was completed earlier this month.

The newly designed, 90,000-square-foot building will host Dever Stage, the Center for Student Success and Engagement, the Department of Education, the Department of Political Science, and the new Collaboration and Maker Space.

Parenzo Hall will also be home to Westfield State’s new Research, Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurial (RIDE) Center, which will serve as a hub of innovation and workforce development in Western Mass., fulfilling the university’s stewarded agreement to engage students while partnering and collaborating with external stakeholders and community leaders.

RIDE will partner with MakerHealth, a division of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which will outfit RIDE with equipment and modules that support transdisciplinary innovation, design, and entrepreneurial practices. Westfield State University will be the first undergraduate institution in the nation to establish this partnership.

Guided tours of Parenzo Hall will take place after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.