The Bohannon Science Center is a 100,000+ square foot facility, housing the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics & Computer Science, Physics, and Psychology.

Named for James A. Bohannon, his generous gift of $1 million jump-started construction of the new science center in the spring of 1966.  Construction was completed in 1968, valuing the building at $5 million.

Bohannon was distinguished for his role in the development of Cleveland's industrial, civic, and cultural history from 1929 onward.  At 33 years of age, he was named president of the Peerless Motor Company, becoming the youngest top executive in the U.S. auto industry's history.  In 1930, in close association with the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA), he produced the first all-aluminum, 16-cylinder automobile, pictured here.

Many of the devices and inventions pioneered in this vehicle were subsequently adopted by the auto industry and developed for use in the modern automobile.  Although Bohannon tried to save the firm, Peerless was unable to survive the Depression and this, the last Cleveland-based company to build automobiles in the city, closed in 1931.

In 1933, with the repeal of Prohibition, Bohannon founded the Brewing Corporation of America, which later became the Carling Brewing Company.  The old Peerless factory at 9400 Quincy Avenue was refitted as a brewery, operating as such, off and on, until 1984.  The original Cleveland plant was sold to C. Schmidt & Sons of Philadelphia in 1971. Carling headquarters is moved to Waltham, MA. Schmidt declared bankruptcy in 1986 and the beautiful Peerless / Carling plant was finally torn down in the late 1990s....

An oil portrait of Mr. Bohannon hangs in the atrium of the JCU Science Center.

The Bohannon Science Center was replaced in the summer of 2003 by The Charles and Helen Dolan Center for Science and Technology. At 265,000 square feet and $66.4 million, it is the largest project in the history of John Carroll University. The Dolan Center houses the departments of biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science, neuroscience and psychology, and will support initiatives to improve K-12 education and encourage technology start-ups in Northeast Ohio.

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