As construction on the new Lillis Business Complex progresses, students in nearby Gilbert 107 are moving out.
Last week, at least a dozen classes in Gilbert 107, located on the side of the building closest to the recent construction, were moved in response to noise and safety issues.
Senior Karolin Wicks said even with her professor practically yelling during the hour-plus lecture, there were times when his voice simply could not compete with the drone of equipment.
“It is such a small room that even sitting in the first two rows we couldn’t hear,” she said.
Once completed, the four-story complex replacing the Gilbert Hall Commonwealth Bridge will add 145,000 square feet for classrooms, plus space for conferences and extra technology. But this won’t be done until 2003.
The demolition has brought down 24 classrooms in its path -16 percent of the University’s total classroom space.
While the noise may have distracted some students from lectures, discussions and exams in Room 107, there were also safety concerns about the possibility of debris flying through the windows and injuring students.
University Registrar Herbert Chereck said nothing had been scheduled in Gilbert 104 and 111 through
all 2002 because of the work, but classes in Gilbert 107, which was insulated with plywood, were not thought to be a issue.
“We did not anticipate the noise problem,” he said.
University officials are hoping the move will be an easy transition for students, he said.
The noise is not expected to interfere with upcoming outdoor commencement ceremonies, because the construction crew doesn’t work on evenings and weekends when graduation events are scheduled, said Wendy Mitchell, assistant dean of academic programs in the College of Business.
The construction is expected to wrap up in time for the 2003-04 school year.
Between now and then, classes – and construction – will continue.
E-mail Robin Weber at [email protected]
Time to move out
Daily Emerald
May 20, 2002
No classes are scheduled here in Gilbert 111 because of construction noise.
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