Psychology has relocation in mind

A recent church fire may complicate site selection for the department's proposed new facility. Although University administrators identified the northwest corner of 34th and Chestnut streets as a proposed location for construction of a new Psychology facility, they now say the recent fire at the neighboring Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church complicates final site selection. Administrators proposed the location -- which is currently a University-owned parking lot -- to the Psychology Department over a month ago and members of the department outlined the proposed size and cost of the building last week. Plans for the facility -- which Psychology Professor John Sabini labeled "highly preliminary" -- call for a six-story, 120,000 square foot building, to be completed within the next five years. But the recent fire at the church -- which the University was renovating for a Fine Arts facility -- has made final selection of the Psychology building's site "vastly more complicated," according to Executive Vice President John Fry. "[The fire] has made a difficult job even more difficult," he said. "Things were easier a few weeks ago." Fry explained that although the parking lot site "made the most sense" for Psychology, revised plans will also accommodate the needs of the Graduate School of Fine Arts. He added that he expects planning to begin early this summer. But members of the Psychology Department seemed unaware of the complications yesterday, and were under the impression that they would receive use of the proposed site. The department wants a facility that would centralize Psychology into one location. "The plan is for it to be a full-service building for research and teaching," Psychology Department Chairperson Robert Seyfarth said, adding that the building would house a number of large lecture halls, research facilities and updated classroom technology. Seyfarth estimated that the new facility would cost $30-35 million. University administrators and members of the Psychology Department would collaborate to identify funding for the project, according to Sabini. The Psychology Department's relocation into a new building would mark the first time in more than 30 years that the department would be centralized in one facility. "For the first time in living memory, we'll all be in the same building," Seyfarth said. The department is now spread out across four campus buildings, which Seyfarth called "some of the worst facilities on campus." Psychology professors have said they want to be certain the new building will provide adequate space to ensure that the department will not be forced to separate into additional buildings in the future. "We want to make sure it has enough facilities for expansion," Seyfarth said. The department petitioned the University for a new campus building last fall, vying with the Wharton School for use of the current Book Store site at 38th and Locust streets. University administrators granted the site to Wharton for the construction of new a classroom building in November. But they pledged to work with Psychology to locate a new facility, and construction of a new psychology building was outlined as part of the College of Arts and Sciences's "Agenda for Excellence" in January. Selection of a specific site, however, could not continue until after the department officially decided against splitting itself into separate social psychology and neuropsychology departments, according to Seyfarth. "A decision on the size and location of the building couldn't have been made without a decision on the intellectual direction of the department," he said. Psychology professors said poor facilities in the department's four buildings contributed to a need for a new building. "This is a department which attempts to bring together psychologists interested in the whole range of the discipline and foster creative interaction among them," College Dean Robert Rescorla said. "This is becoming increasingly difficult to do with the physical separation and poor facilities," he added.