Computer Science awaits expansion

The construction of Levine Hall, started this summer and projected to open in spring 2002, will provide much-needed space for the rapidly growing Computer Science Department. Once completed, the new $15 million, 40,000 square-foot facility -- designed by the architectural firm Kieran, Timberlake and Harris -- will connect the now separate Towne Building and the Graduate Research Wing of the Moore Building on the eastern end of campus. The space is currently occupied by a small parking lot. Groundbreaking took place on June 15, and the construction began August 15. Currently, workers are tearing down the Towne loading dock and garage, and are removing trees around the parking lot. New Jersey businessman and 1946 Wharton graduate Melvin Levine and his wife Claire -- the building's namesakes -- donated $5 million to fund the construction, with the other $10 million of the funding provided by a grant from the United States Air Force. An anonymous donor also contributed $225,000 toward building a "cyber-lounge" -- a room with Internet access -- in what is now the Towne Building, Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt said. The new building will house the expanded Computer Science Department, along with classrooms and meeting spaces. In addition, a courtyard and an auditorium with state-of-the-art electronic equipment will be included in the building. These two facilities are also funded by anonymous donors. Glandt said that ultimately the area will have a more Locust Walk feel. "Chancellor Street will be renamed Chancellor Walk, and the construction will transform it to just like Locust and Smith walks, with no parking whatsoever," Glandt said. The new building's ability to enhance Computer and Information Science is part of University President Judith Rodin's Agenda for Excellence, a six-year-old plan for campus improvement and academic innovation. "These are really exciting times in the Engineering School, reflecting the role that technology has in revolutionizing every discipline," Glandt said. Philadelphia native Levine enrolled in Wharton in 1943. He was selected for the Victory-12 Program, which evolved into the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps. The V12 sent Levine back to Penn, where he took several Engineering courses