New center for Dental School finally open

The Dental School's recently completed Robert Schattner Center was officially dedicated on Friday, following a long series of construction problems and legal battles that have delayed its opening for the last two years.

The three-story, 70,000-square-foot center, which includes an oral surgery center, an oral medicine clinic, an admissions and emergency clinic and dental faculty practice, opened its doors about three weeks ago.

Administrators and trustees gathered for the ceremony, which honored the building's namesake and main donor Robert Schattner. Schattner, a Dental School alumnus and member of its board of overseers, has had a long career as a practicing dentist and is also credited with developing a series of dental products, including chloraseptic, an anesthetic and sore throat medication.

"With this building, Penn Dental has achieved the critical goal of developing the facilities and resources it needs to maintain its leadership role in education, patient care and research for many years to come," Dental School Dean Ray Fonseca said. "On yet another level, by unifying the Penn Dental campus... the Schattner Center has brought a new energy to the school, creating a dynamic environment that promotes interaction."

University President Judith Rodin echoed Fonseca's sentiments, and noted that the center will serve 18,000 patients, including Penn faculty and staff members.

"This continues our effort to help the school advance its tripartite mission to educate Penn students for leadership, to build knowledge and research and to reach out to the neighboring community, especially the under-served," Rodin said. "The Schattner Center is truly the gateway through which the School of Dental Medicine has entered the new millennium."

The building's completion concludes a lengthy construction process. When plans began for the $22 million center in 1998, it was scheduled to be finished in October 2000. But construction came to a halt in September 2000 when the University cancelled its contract with York Hunter, a New York-based firm. The University then entered into a new agreement with the contractor's surety company, a subsidiary of American International Group, in March 2001.

According to administrators, the break with York Hunter resulted after the company failed to fulfill the terms of its contract. But the company claimed that there had been design and material problems on the University's end. Its representatives also said that when construction stopped, the building was just four months from completion.

As late as last May, administrators were still reluctant to name a specific date for the center's opening. At the time, Penn's head of facilities and real estate Omar Blaik said the building should be finished by the end of the calendar year.

At Friday's ceremony, Rodin credited Fonseca, whose term as dean will end this spring, with the project's success. She also announced that Schattner made an additional donation for landscaping around the new center in Fonseca's honor.

"This project never would have happened without Ray's leadership and his commitment and his dogged pursuit of a vision of continuity structurally, physically and certainly emotionally between the buildings that create now, for the first time, a real campus for the School of Dental Medicine," Rodin said.

Rodin and Fonseca also unveiled a portrait of Schattner and his wife Kay -- complete with a bottle of chloraseptic in the corner -- that will hang in the new building.

In his remarks, Schattner said he was pleased with the building and his ability to contribute to the Dental School.

"I envision a new era just starting for dental care and for our Dental School and Penn's continued leadership for generations to come," Schattner said.

Fonseca also noted that it is "especially appropriate" to dedicate the center this year, while the Dental School is celebrating its 125th anniversary.

"With it, Penn Dental is once again poised with the facilities and resources it needs to maintain the world-class status it has held since its founding in 1817," Fonseca said.

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