Women's Center takes its place on the Walk

The Penn Women's Center is undergoing final stages of construction for its fall opening. Facilities Management Vice President Art Gravina said the project is on schedule and will be completed for the beginning of the term. The center was previously located in Houston Hall and will now be in the former Theta Xi fraternity house at 3643 Locust Walk. "The construction project was designed to be sympathetic to its historic character, yet it is not a restoration," Gravina explained. "We paid special attention to color selection, porch replacement, windows and roof." Air conditioning, new electric service, a handicap ramp making first floor accessible and additional lighting have been added as a result of upgraded infrastructure. Gravina said the newly created space will be used for offices and meeting rooms on the first and second floors. Gravina added that the move will not only give the Center a presence on Locust Walk and appropriate space to conduct business, but will also open space in Houston Hall. "It creates a vacancy in Houston Hall which allows us to move forward with Perelman Quad," he said. "One of our challenges is to ultimately come up with locations for the occupants of Houston Hall?so we can do renovation and restoration when the time comes." Women's Center Director Elena DiLapi said she is "very excited" that the Center is moving to a larger space. "I regularly have to leave my office for support groups to occur since my room is the only room large enough for people to fit into," she said in March. "Also, as our services become more centrally located, they are more accessible to people on campus." DiLapi added that the move creates a presence of women at the center of campus. Women's Center Advisory Board co-Chairperson Helen Davies said she is also thrilled that the relocation will finally happen. She added that she is happy the Women's Center will be more available to the whole University community. "I was a student in 1949 and women were not able to eat downstairs in the Hall of Flags. They were only allowed to eat in the upper balcony and could not sit on College Green," she recalled. "There have been some wonderful changes and the moving is part of that same trajectory."