While not as overt as closing off the library steps for nine months, reconstruction on campus will take place again this summer.
Two major changes to Northwestern for the next academic year have already been announced: a renovation of Annie May Swift Hall and an upgrade of four large lecture rooms to smart classrooms.
A smart classroom is a lecture hall outfitted for laptop support and extra projection capabilities. NU Information Technology said all smart classrooms are equipped with a ceiling-mounted LCD projector and projection screen, laptop connectivity for both Macintoshes and PCs, VCR, DVD player, sound system, wireless mouse, touch-panel control system, telephone, AUX-video input and USB input. Additionally, each room will have a mobile podium.
“Flexibility is very important,” said Bob Taylor, director of NUIT’s Academic Technologies, in a statement to Northwestern News Center. “Lecturers can switch to annotate on a computer desktop or show a DVD clip with just the touch of a button.”
Northwestern already has more than 50 smart classrooms, but administrators hope to raise that number to 100 in the next three years.
“The response to smart classrooms has been very positive,” Taylor said. “We’re on an accelerated schedule to make this technology available in as many places as we can.”
The four rooms to be upgraded are Kresge Hall 3-420, Parkes Hall 213, Fisk Hall 114 and Technological Institute L221.
But more difficult on-campus construction will occur within the walls of Annie May Swift. The building, completed in 1895, houses WNUR and offices for several staff members in the School of Communication.
The new renovation will include interior improvements, preservation of historic features and minor restoration, including window replacement, on the exterior. More stairways and bathrooms will be added to the building, and the auditorium and classrooms will be renovated and improved. Also, all mechanical, electrical and plumbing facilities will be replaced.
During the renovation, faculty and staff will work from a temporary space at 1800 Sherman Ave. WNUR will move to a new permanent address at 555 Clark St.
This is just the latest renovation in the building’s history. Originally, administrators planned to name the “School of Oratory” building after Robert Cumnock, the school’s founder, but after borrowing funds from Gustavus Swift, a Chicago meat-packer, NU renamed the building after his daughter, who died in 1889 while attending NU.
The 27,000 square-foot building, which was named an Evanston historic landmark, has gone through a number of changes in the past 111 years. The north section of the building was added in the 1920s. In 1995, the WNUR studios were completely refurbished. Peggy Dow Helmerich, Communication ’48, donated funds in 1996 to renovate the auditorium to screen films and videos.
Other renovation efforts have included the rebuilding of the south stairs, the restoration of the exterior east stairs and the installation of an accessible ramp on the east side of the building.
The new renovations are expected to be completed by the fall of 2007.
Reach Emmet Sullivan at [email protected].
