Departments that were previously located in the 1911 Building before construction will moving back in early next month.
As students packed bags to return home for the winter holidays in Dec. 2006, departments housed in the 1911 Building were packing up to relocate before renovations to the 100-year-old building began.
The departments of sociology and anthropology, social work and interdisciplinary studies will begin to move back into the 1911 Building Feb. 11, according to Allen Emory, executive assistant in the dean’s office of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
“They should all move in the course of a single week … if all goes well,” Emory said.
Each individual office should take a single day to move, he said, but students may not be able to contact members of those departments in transition.
“If they have an urgent need [to meet with advisers] around that move day, they should make appointments now,” he said.
Emory said the move will serve to bring the departments together — especially the interdisciplinary studies and social work programs.
Social work has been housed in the Hillsborough Building across from Dan Allen Drive, and interdisciplinary studies has been “scattered,” he said.
“We’re really excited for interdisciplinary studies to be all in one space again,” he said.
In addition to the departments, computer classroom will be located on the first floor of the building, according to Justin Daves, the associate director of information technology for CHASS.
The classroom, which will be completed during the summer of 2008, will be used heavily by the sociology and social work departments, he said. But, Daves said he expects other departments to utilize the room as well.
And that’s just one change to the building’s interior.
According to Viren Tailor, the 1911 Building project manager, crews demolished the inside of the building completely.
Since construction began on Feb. 7, 2007, Tailor said workers have removed everything inside except for structural fixtures. They’ve also renovated the plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems.
According to Tailor, the second and third floor of the building will be offices.
Renovations to the exterior included the installation of a new roof and additional ramps around the building. The bricks were also cleaned.
But, Tailor said, care was taken to maintain the building’s appearance.
“We refurbished the windows to keep the historical importance of the building,” he said. “We tried to maintain the exterior as much as possible to keep the historical look.”
Steve Rebach, associate director of the Sea Grant program, said he enjoyed the historical feel of the building when his office was located there. When renovations began, however, the Sea Grant program relocated to the Flex Building on Varsity Drive, were it will remain.
The foreign languages department will remain in Withers Hall, where it has been since the 1911 Building construction started, Debora Godfrey, administrative assistant in the department, said.
“Our move was permanent,” she said.
According to Lillie Kirby, executive assistant for the School of Public and International Affairs, the political science faculty, who were located in 1911, are now located in WInston Hall and will stay there.
