The J. Walter Wilson building - located across Waterman Street from Faunce House - will be converted into a student services center by the end of summer 2008 as part of the University's plan to make Faunce and its neighbors a central hub for student life.
By the Fall 2008 semester, the former biology laboratory facility will become home to such student services as the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life, the Office of International Programs, the Writing Center, the Writing Fellows Program, the Brown Card Office and the curricular resource and academic support centers, said Associate Provost Pamela O'Neil PhD'91.
"One of the things we've needed on campus for a long time is a building for student support and student services," she said. "Right now they're spread all over campus."
As the project is still in the planning stages, the offices that will move into J. Walter Wilson have not been finalized, said Russell Carey '91 MA'06, interim vice president for campus life and student services.
The plans for J. Walter Wilson will take advantage of the building's "centrality" on campus and "significant amount of space," Carey said.
The renovated building is also intended to complement Faunce, which will become the Robert Campus Center, and to "provide a vibrant center of activity that will serve students much better," Carey said. "Its location near Hillel and the (planned) Creative Arts Building will make the area a vibrant and attractive area for students."
"It's an overarching plan for the area," O'Neil said. She said J. Walter Wilson's proximity to Faunce House makes it conducive as both a place for student services and a "place where students can gather."
By centralizing various student services, efficiency and collaboration can be maximized, O'Neil said. "Two things that make sense to be located near each other but haven't been are the Writing Fellows Program, located in Rhode Island Hall, and the Writing Center, located in the library," she said. "The two actually share staff but are located in different buildings. In J. Walter Wilson, the staff can work together as a cohesive unit."
"I'm frankly delighted by the proposition we'll have more space," said Douglas Brown, director of the Writing Center, which is currently located in the Rockefeller Library. He also said he thought it was "an intelligent move" and that the only minor drawback would be losing "a very beautiful view from the Rock."
Many of the services currently located in Rhode Island Hall will be moved to J. Walter Wilson, as Rhode Island Hall will be renovated and converted into the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Carey said.
The Brown Card Office will also be relocated to J. Walter Wilson, according to O'Neil. "Having the Brown Card Office in a dormitory where students can't find it has never made sense," she said. She said since the office - currently located in Emery-Woolley Hall - is one of the first stops for all incoming students, the relocation of the office is also intended for students to become familiar with J. Walter Wilson and its student services early in their Brown careers.
The actual renovation of the building will be strictly internal, said Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for facilities management. Though some internal walls will be torn down, many of the existing structural walls will remain, said Stephen Morin, director of environmental health and safety.
According to O'Neil, approximately 10 new seminar rooms will be located in the Sol Koffler wing, located in the front of the J. Walter Wilson building. Though classes will be held in the seminar rooms, some of the programs housed in the building will also be able to use the rooms, O'Neil said.
Since the building was formerly used as a laboratory, it is currently being decommissioned, Maiorisi said. Researchers were required to follow strict lab closeout procedures when they moved to Sidney Frank Hall for Life Sciences, Morin said.
Because radioactive materials had been used in the laboratory, extra steps had to be taken in the renovation process, Morin said.
"Over the years people have been authorized to use small quantities of radioactive materials as part of their research," he said. However, these materials were closely monitored when they were used, and all surfaces in the building were checked for contamination over winter break, he said.
"One of the things (the contractor, Chase Environmental Group,) said in the summary was that this was one of the cleanest buildings he's ever checked," Morin said, noting that this indicated that the researchers had been very careful with materials and that the ongoing environmental health and safety efforts to inspect and remove waste had been successful.
Only the first three floors will be occupied, Maiorisi said - the fourth floor is not part of the project and will be kept as "shelf space for future capacity." A central chiller plant will be installed in J. Walter Wilson's fifth floor, which is the building's existing mechanical space, Maiorisi said.
Plans to renovate the building began over a year ago when the decision was made to move the occupants of J. Walter Wilson to Frank Hall, O'Neil said. The need for a building for student support and student services was recognized, and "the whole idea of a student precinct started to emerge," she said.
"President (Ruth) Simmons considered doing a new building which would be a very large student center," she said. "That makes less sense than renovating Faunce and J. Walter Wilson, because we have so much history in Faunce."
In August 2006, a group of administrators consisting of O'Neil, Carey, Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron, Michael McCormick, director of planning for Facilities Management, and "other people who had a stake in the building" met to decide which offices to move to J. Walter Wilson, O'Neil said.
University officials are still in the process of selecting a design and construction contractor, which they hope to finalize by early June, Maiorisi said. Construction is expected to begin by late summer, he said.
Administrators considered moving Career Services from Pembroke Hall to J. Walter Wilson, since Pembroke Hall is also slated for renovation, O'Neil said. Due to its size, however, Career Services will instead move to the Hemisphere Building on Angell Street, she said.
The Health Careers Office was also considered for relocation to J. Walter Wilson, O'Neil said. But Bergeron "said she wanted things that had primarily an advising function to stay in University Hall, so it will be moved (to University Hall) instead of J. Walter Wilson," O'Neil said.
