After three years of being spread out around campus, students
and faculty in the physics and astronomy department finally have a
place to call their own.
Well, almost.
There are still last-minute touches being made while students,
faculty and staff are establishing themselves in the Physics and
Astronomy Building, which started construction October 2001.
Construction is expected to be completed by the end of November,
including the wiring of audiovisual components and final
inspections, though the building was supposed to be completed in
November of last year.
The building’s construction delays result in part from the
integration of laboratories, classrooms and offices into one
building, which is unusual, said Ron Enholme, the Capital Programs
project manager for the new building.
“It’s really a function of the complexity of this
building’s construction,” he said, noting the
difficulty of planning for the three different functions.
“It’s just taken the contractor longer to plan,
coordinate, and execute this work,” he said.
Most of the building is currently accessible to students,
faculty and staff with the exception of the basement laboratory
levels, where the air distribution system is still being
installed.
People in the department who have moved in amid the construction
say the benefits of the building outweigh any of the nuisances that
may ensue from construction.
“I absolutely love (the new building),” said Reba
Glover, staff personnel manager in the physics and astronomy
department.
“I think with construction, you’re going to have to
put up with a little bit of noise,” she added.
Most of the noise can be avoided in the offices or the
classrooms, said Wei Feng Tsai, a graduate physics student.
The Physics and Astronomy Building will have many of the
facilities found in many other South Campus buildings, but will
have state-of-the-art laboratories and a wireless Internet
connection throughout the building. There is also a walkway
connecting the building to Knudsen Hall, the former home of the
physics department.
“It’s much easier if someone’s down the hall
than if they’re a building away,” said Michael Jura, a
professor of physics and astronomy, who teaches in the new
building.
Much of the work that still needs to be done remains on the
outside of the building, including roofing, paving of the sidewalks
and landscaping.
Much of the touch-up work is done during school hours, while
more invasive work that needs to be done on classrooms and offices
is done at night.
“Anything that would considerably interrupt the daytime
operation of the building would be done during off-hours,”
Enholme said.
The construction of the new building has also opened up room for
other departments in Knudsen Hall, Kinsey Hall and the Math
Sciences building, where the department was spread out before the
new building’s construction.
“Everyone will benefit,” Jura said. “Once the
square feet are created, it helps the entire college.”