$15m. in renovations to Annenberg nearly done

Following two years of construction, closures and office relocations, major renovations to the Annenberg School for Communication building are expected to be completed this week, officials said. During the $15 million renovation project, which has been ongoing since October 1997, older sections of the building were renovated and the Annenberg School Theater was closed to make way for the new home of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. In addition, a more visible and aesthetically pleasing entrance was constructed on the Walnut Street side of the school while the building was brought in line with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, according to Communications Professor Larry Gross. Annenberg Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson said all of the renovations -- including the installation of a teleconferencing link that will connect the school with the Annenberg Public Policy Center's other offices in Washington, D.C. -- will help to modernize the school's facilities. "They're helping translate the school's mission into the 21st century," Jamieson said. Renovations to the space previously occupied by the theater -- and the addition of a fifth-floor "penthouse" above the theater site -- have allowed for offices, conference rooms and research space for the Public Policy Center, which previously lacked its own central site in the school. Jamieson she was pleased that the center would finally have a home instead of being spread out across different campus locations. "It is exciting to finally have the public policy space integrated into the school," Jamieson said. Officials hope increased involvement with the center's Washington location, through the teleconferencing link, will help improve the undergraduate experience. "If we have a class here, it will be possible to invite a speaker? to come to the Annenberg Policy offices in Washington and meet with the class via the teleconferencing link," Gross said. Gross said the library also saw significant renovations during the construction, including the addition of three small- to medium-sized classrooms and several computer workstations. According to Jamieson, the improvements helped to make the facility an "electronic library." Most of the library's collection has been moved permanently to Van Pelt Library, while periodicals, reference and reserve books are being retained in Annenberg. Gross said the increased use of technology in the school is "moving the school up to the present and into the future." "The role of computers has changed since they last worked on the building," he noted. During construction, both the library and graduate student offices were temporarily moved to 4025 Chestnut Street. The graduate student offices and computer and research space located on the ground floor have been reorganized so that every graduate student will now have his or her own workstation and computer, Gross said. "The new student offices are more efficient than the offices we had in the past," Jamieson added. Renovations to the building's exterior -- which are not yet complete -- include the installation of windows, construction of a granite courtyard and creation of a more distinct entrance on the Walnut Street side of the building, as well as general cleansing of the building's facade. "This turns out to be completely consistent with the University's move in general to open up Walnut Street," Gross said. "When I look at the building walking down Walnut Street? it looks transformed." But while construction crews begin to put the finishing touches on the building and clear out of the area, Gross said future renovations are inevitable, as keeping the school on top of technology "is a never-ending process." "There is no reason to believe that this will be the last time we have to make changes," Gross said. The building, designed in the late 1950s, was last renovated in the early 1980s. On Wednesday, officials will celebrate the both the completion of the renovations and the school's 40th anniversary with a day-long series of speakers including New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, NBC Night News anchor Tom Brokaw and David Halberstam, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author.

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