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| The Arts & Sciences Building will be dedicated on Sept. 4 at 11 a.m. |
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If you didn’t see much of Roger Creel in his fourth-floor office last week, it’s because the arts and sciences dean was on the first floor of the college’s new building, answering questions and directing students to the right classrooms as the fall semester got under way.
From the soaring, four-story atrium to well-equipped computer labs and an outdoor amphitheatre, students are sure to be awed by what the College of Arts & Sciences building has to offer.
“I think we have a beautiful building — very representative of what an arts and sciences building should be,” says Creel.
The third of six new structures to be completed as part of the New Landscape for Learning campus enhancement program, the College of Arts & Sciences building will be dedicated on Sept. 4. A brief ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. on the front steps of the new building, located on the southeast corner of East Buchtel Avenue and South College Street.
Speakers at the event will be President Luis M. Proenza, Ted Curtis, vice president for capital planning and facilities management, and Creel. Self-guided tours will begin at 11:30 a.m.
At 12:30 p.m., an appreciation program will be held in the atrium, featuring a series of speakers who will provide a multigenerational perspective of the college.
Speakers are James D. D’Ianni, a 1934 alumnus and former director of elastomer and chemical research for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company; Scott Read, who received a B.A. in history in 1991 and is a member of the UA’s Fitzgerald Institute Executive Advisory Board; and Ashley Foster, a senior majoring in biology.
Also at the appreciation program, Proenza will dedicate the Lewis C. Turner Amphitheatre, which slopes down the eastern flank of the building to a small speaker’s area. A classical addition to the campus landscape, the amphitheatre is named for a UA alumnus who was an instructor in public speaking at his alma mater for more than 25 years during the mid-20th century. One of the young people he influenced was Dr. Paul E. Martin, a University benefactor who donated funds for the amphitheatre.
If the amphitheatre’s four, free-standing Ionic columns look familiar, it’s because they were saved from East Hall, which once stood on the same ground. The architectural treasures invoke the spirit of Greek philosophers, which seems appropriate, given the amphitheatre’s proximity to the new arts and sciences building.
At 1 p.m., a concert will begin in the amphitheatre, featuring the University’s Solaris Woodwind Quintet and the Paragon Brass Quintet.
Concluding the day’s activities will be the annual Convocation at 3 p.m. in E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall. Following President Proenza's “State of the University” address, he will host a reception for new employees in Thomas Hall's Goodrich Lobby.
(For more information about the day’s events, call ext. 7872.)
While Sept. 4 will provide the first opportunity for many in the campus community to see the new building, it has been occupied for much of the summer. Even as construction crews were putting finishing touches in place, faculty and staff were unpacking boxes and setting up offices in preparation for fall semester.
URS Greiner Woodward Clyde Architects, based in Akron, designed the 127,200-square foot structure. It has 14 general-purpose classrooms on the first floor, eight classrooms/labs wired with fiber optics for Internet connectivity, eight conference and seminar rooms, a soils research laboratory and 151 faculty and student offices. The entire building is wired for wireless technology.
Housed within the four-story building are the departments of computer science, economics, geography and planning, history, psychology, statistics, and theoretical and applied mathematics, as well the Institute for Life-Span Development and Gerontology, and the Center for Statistical Consulting.
At Olin Hall, many remaining departments have gained new or additional space. Housed there are the departments of classical studies, anthropology, and archaeology, English, modern languages, philosophy, political science, sociology and the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics. In addition, the English Language Institute and the Institute for Teaching and Learning moved to Olin from their locations in Leigh Hall.
Other departments within the college are housed in the following locations: biology, Auburn Science and Engineering Center; chemistry, Knight Chemical Laboratory; geology, Crouse Hall; physics, Ayer Hall; and public administration and urban studies, The Polsky Building.
“All major space issues within the college — some longstanding — have been resolved with this new building,” says Creel.
The process of working with an architectural firm over the course of the construction was a new but welcome one for the dean and other members of the college.
“The architect met with each department to discuss its needs in the new building,” says Creel. “Many versions of floor plans were presented and departments were asked for input throughout the process. As a result, the spaces are very functional for the teaching, research and learning going on in them.”
Another unique feature of the College of Arts and Sciences Building is its exterior design. It is the first of the New Landscape for Learning major projects to fully incorporate all elements of a design philosophy that unifies the varied architectures found on campus.
Ted Curtis, vice president for capital planning and facilities management, required architects to work with a specific palate.
“I told them we wanted to see red-brown brick, a color similar to what’s on Buchtel Hall, with stone,” says Curtis. “I wanted brick and stone because those two materials project importance, project respectability and give permanence to a structure.”
The choice of tan limestone complements the exterior materials used on structures constructed in the 1960s, during the institution’s last major building program, without repeating that era’s design.
“We’re also using a lot of glass to represent the research personality of the University,” adds Curtis. “From a practical standpoint, people on the outside can see the activity within, and for those indoors, the glass allows nature to come into the building.”
The glass is a much-appreciated feature, notes Creel.
“Every faculty member has an office with a window in this building. I think that’s an important element to have in a workspace.”
Equally important is what the additional space means to the college itself.
“The new building has drawn the social sciences much closer together,” says Creel. “I think the benefit we’ll see over a long period of time is that people will have more opportunities to talk with each other and spend time together. That’s going to increase collegiality among all of us.”
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