Some Engineering offices may move to 3401 Walnut after History Dept. leaves

Offices of the School of Engineering and Applied Science may relocate into the 3401 Walnut building, when the School of Arts and Sciences's History Department vacates the building and returns to College Hall in late 1998. The History Department -- currently located in the A and B wings of the 3401 Walnut building -- will return to its previous location on the second floor of College Hall when renovations to that building end. If College Hall renovations are completed by winter of 1998, the History Department is likely to move back into the building by the beginning of the spring 1999 semester, according to Provost Stanley Chodorow. And Executive Vice Provost John Fry said the Engineering School could move to fill the vacancy. "Programmatically, that would make sense," he explained. The Engineering School's Computer and Information Science Department may receive use of the facilities in the building, according to Engineering Dean Gregory Farrington. "It makes great sense for Computer Science to be there," he said, adding that the department's relocation is one of many options under consideration for the space. A number of Computer Science-related departments are currently located in the 3401 Walnut building, including the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science and the school's General Robotics and Active Sensory Perception Laboratory. Although a decision on the space has not been finalized, Fry said he expects one by the end of the semester. But regardless of the decision, the third floor of 3401 Walnut will not actually be available until completion of renovations to the second floor of College Hall in late 1998, according to Vice President for Facilities Management Art Gravina. This time frame gives departments a "substantial amount of time" for determining use of the space, Gravina said. "We're not in any rush," he said. "We're working through the feasibility of a number of needs that the space could serve." Farrington described the Computer and Information Science Department's current facilities in the Moore Building and its adjoining Graduate Research Wing as "crammed" and explained that the department requires "a good nest." "We're looking at a variety of ways to accommodate the people in our Computer Science Department who need a lot more and better space," he said. Farrington added that the University continues to have a "major problem" providing adequate space for the department. Other College academic departments, including Philosophy, Classical Studies, Religious Studies and History and Sociology of Science will relocate into Logan Hall, which is scheduled for a January 1998 completion. The renovations to Logan are part of the Perelman Quadrangle project.