IAST building plans finished

Design plans for the Institute for Advanced Science and Technology – slated to be built where Smith Hall now stands – are essentially complete, Vice Provost for Research Barry Cooperman said Friday. Cooperman said construction could begin by semester's end if the U.S. Air Force gives the final go-ahead order for the project. While the entire IAST project is expected to cost about $70 million, the University is only expected to come up with half, or $35 million, according to Art Gravina, vice president for facilities. The government will spend the $35 million for the construction, Gravina added. In 1991, the University was selected by the federal government as the site for the IAST. The project was turned over to the Department of Defense, and subsequently to the Air Force, where the details were drawn up. The only remaining hold-up is a government-mandated, historical impact study on the effects of demolishing Smith Hall, Gravina said. The government has previously designated the area around Smith Hall as a historical district. An environmental impact study, already completed by the Air Force, found that the IAST will not create any major environmental damage, he added. The University also received permission from the City of Philadelphia to tear down Smith Hall in 1991, Gravina said. "The historic fiber of Smith Walk is the issue," he added. Some individuals and groups are not happy about the University's collaboration with the government on the project. A group, calling itself the Friends of Smith Walk, appealed the city's 1991 decision to approve the IAST. "It is not with glee that we're tearing Smith Hall down," Cooperman said. "But we are still preserving most of the older buildings in that section." Construction on the IAST is divided into three phases. The first phase will involve the destruction of Smith Hall and the construction of the IAST building. Then, the Morgan Building and Music Building, also located in the historical district, will be renovated and connected by an annex. Finally, depending on government funding, Hayden Hall may also be renovated, Cooperman said. When complete, the IAST will house laboratories for the University's Chemistry, Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering departments. Cooperman said approximately 60 percent of the building's space will be used by the Chemistry Department, 30 percent by Bioengineering and the remaining 10 percent by Chemical Engineering. Incorporating the three departments in the IAST Building will "foster a cooperative environment" between the three scientific disciplines, he added. But, according to Cooperman, the Bioengineering Department has the most to gain from having laboratory space in the IAST. "This moves Bioengineering closer to the Medical School where they have a lot of joint collaborations currently," he said.