News Release
August 2001
(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) - The Executive Committee of
the Moravian College Board of Trustees yesterday unanimously authorized
the immediate construction of a new academic building at the heart of
Moravian's Main Street Campus. The three-story complex will house 15
classrooms and four academic departments in more than 55,000 square
feet. Construction will begin September 17 and will take approximately
12 to 15 months to complete.
"Our decision to build the academic complex reflects
real vision, courage, and commitment," said Priscilla Payne Hurd,
Chair of the Board of Trustees. "We have stepped up to a challenge
and a dream that has existed at Moravian for almost three decades,"
she said.
The new academic complex will be constructed across from
the Haupert Union Building (HUB) entrance on Monocacy Street. A beautifully
landscaped pedestrian plaza will adjoin the building with the Collier
Hall of Science and the walkways that lead to Reeves Library and other
nearby buildings.
"Although we have much more work to do, our entire
campus community should take pride in this visible sign of our progress
and focus on academic excellence," said Ervin J. Rokke, president.
"The new academic building will enable Moravian to meet the specific
demands of modern pedagogy. Technology-enhanced classrooms, in a variety
of seating configurations, will facilitate innovative teaching techniques,
enhancing the educational experience for our students," said Rokke.
To accommodate construction of the new academic building,
the offices of Student Affairs, Multicultural Affairs, and International
Study were moved during the summer to four houses just north of Elizabeth
Avenue on Main Street. "We have already completed demolition and
preparation of the site," said Doug Plotts, Moravian's director
of facility services. "Construction timelines are notoriously tenuous,
but our current target for completion is fall 2002. If we meet that
ambitious target, the new building could be ready for classes by spring
2002," he said.
In addition to the fifteen technologically advanced classrooms,
the complex will include two tiered lecture halls, with a total seating
capacity of 631. All classrooms will be smart classrooms, with a computer
station for the instructor, selected multimedia equipment to match the
use of the room, and a ceiling-mounted projector.
One classroom is designed as a mock teaching space for
kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade teacher training. Laboratories will
include a computer laboratory with 30 student workstations, a data and
statistics laboratory, an experimental teaching room, three observation
rooms for psychology, and four small student and faculty research rooms.
Conference or breakout rooms will lend themselves to small group discussions
and seminars.
The building will house four academic departments: Mathematics
and Computer Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Education, with individual
offices for permanent faculty members and four group offices for adjunct
faculty. The placement of faculty offices for the four academic departments
in proximity to each other will promote the College's multidisciplinary
efforts, while proximity to the classrooms and to student/faculty common
areas will provide for easy student/faculty interaction on a one-to-one
basis.
"The new academic building's affect on the classroom
will be dramatic," said Dr. Curtis A. Keim, dean of the faulty.
"This substantial addition of classroom space will mean smaller
class sizes and greater flexibility when scheduling courses. Our students
will receive even more personalized attention from the faculty."
The construction of this new academic facility will address
one of the most pressing needs identified by Moravian's Commission on
the Future: not merely additional space to accommodate an increasing
enrollment, but technologically-enhanced space to meet the demands of
modern pedagogy.
Alvin H. Butz, Inc., of Allentown is the construction
manager for the project and the firm H2L2 of Philadelphia is the architect.
Moravian College is a private, coeducational, selective
liberal arts college located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Tracing its
founding to 1742, it is recognized as America's sixth-oldest college.
Visit the Web site at www.moravian.edu.
