Engineering School revamps Towne and Moore buildings

Although many students may not take notice of the recent renovations to the Towne and Moore buildings, the School of Engineering and Applied Science made many behind-the-scenes improvements to the buildings over the summer. "Many changes are transparent to the students," Engineering School Facilities Manager Pat Pancoast said. "They only notice when things are not working." Among the changes made to the Towne building were the installation of a new air conditioner, lights and smoke detectors, replacement of 99 percent of the windows and improvements to the building's telecommunications systems. For Moore, the school purchased 25 new color computers for room 109, the site of the freshman introductory course Consumer Science Engineering 120. The changes are part of ongoing restorations to the Engineering campus. Towne received a massive facelift and the Moore library saw the installation of new shelving, lighting and paint prior to the ENIAC anniversary in February 1996. Additionally, last year the Provost's Classroom Facilities Review Committee oversaw renovations to 10 Towne and five Moore classrooms. The Towne Building, built in 1906, was in dire need of renovations, Pancoast said. "The existing air conditioner was 20 years old and dying and only served the marble corridors," she said. "And the windows were original to the building and were in very bad shape." Replacing the windows was slightly more complicated than originally thought. Since Towne is among the University's historical buildings, the Engineering School was required to first consult with the Pennsylvania Historical Commission. "The Commission has to approve any changes on the outside of the building that are viewable by the public," Pancoast said. This process is part of a joint effort by the University and the State of Pennsylvania to uphold the campus' historical appearance. "We believe the building is now a combination of new and old," Director of Computing and Educational Technology Services Helen Anderson said. "The character of the building has not been lost." The windows facing 33rd Street were also insulated to limit the noise from pedestrians and passing cars, Pancoast said. According to Anderson, the Engineering School and the University's central administration jointly funded the renovations to increase the quality of facilities available to the Engineering School undergraduates. The addition of new telephone and network wiring in Towne "will improve the speed and communication quality of the lines, providing for a faster network response," Anderson said. And the new Moore computers, Sun SPARC5 UNIX Workstations, will allow students to do advanced computer processing without other computers being affected, she said. "The old computers were black and white and significantly slower," she added. "Now our students will be learning more interesting things on faster and better computers." In the next few years, the Engineering School plans to continue its renovations, including the addition of four new air handlers and entrance control machines allowing access to PennCard holders from outside the Towne Building.