The plan for a new $12.7 million mechanical engineering building was approved by the Board of Trustees last month, following more than a year of planning and debate.

The building will be situated on the east side of Lomita Mall, between Panama Mall and Santa Teresa Street — conveniently located adjacent to the existing Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory.

Mechanical Engineering Dept. Chair Fritz Prinz said the new building’s approval comes after many months of discussion about the plan’s financial feasibility.

“It has been a slow process,” he said. “We have been planning this project for the past year and a half at least. As with any major decision, there were intense debates over many aspects of the plan, such as whether it was cost-effective.”

The three-story building will house faculty, staff and student offices, as well as laboratories, conference rooms and collaborative spaces. Though the design will incorporate new courtyards, it will also ensure that the large Chinese elm already in the area is preserved.

Prinz said the new building will fulfill the needs of the mechanical engineering department, which is currently crunched for space in the Durand Building.

“The engineering departments are undergoing transformations in all their facilities,” he said. “There was a big need to consolidate and create more space for the people in ME Department, who are currently living in cramped quarters in Durand.”

Prinz was confident about the benefits of the new building.

“I don’t see any negative consequences or setbacks involved with this project at all,” he said. “This movement will bring two groups in ME — mechanics and biomedical — together, creating incredible intellectual synergies. Additionally, the building will incorporate the latest energy-efficient architecture and technology.”

As a result of the construction, The Storke Student Publications Building — which currently houses The Daily — as well the adjacent Building 630, will be demolished.

Prinz said that he and the planning committee do not foresee any delays in the mechanical engineering building’s construction schedule. The project will return to the Board of Trustees for design approval in October, project approval next February and construction approval next June. The building should be completed by December 2009.