First, it was during the summer. Then, communication faculty members were told to wait until September. Now, Ohio University officials are crossing their fingers that this Monday will be move-in day.
Construction of the Schoonover Center for Communication will hopefully wrap up Monday, allowing Scripps College of Communication faculty and staff to begin moving their offices into the new facility, said Scott Titsworth, dean of the college, in an email.
“If that happens, we anticipate that there will still be some time before the building opens,” Titsworth said. “Although we are still in something of a holding pattern, we are excited that the end is in sight for completion of this phase of the project.”
Part of the delay stemmed from the need for an additional shoring wall in the building’s foundation, which cost OU $55,000, though it did not cause any “substantial” delay, said Katie Quaranta, an OU spokeswoman.
The building is being built in two phases, with the first ending when current construction is completed and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and the School of Media Arts & Studies are moved into the building.
Construction on Schoonover began about 20 months ago, according to a previous Post article.
If construction is not finished Monday, Titsworth said he is hopeful that it will end next week.
The first phase will cost $22.5 million—$17.6 million from debt, $2.5 million from received and estimated gifts and $2.4 million from state appropriations, according to a previous Post article.
The journalism school will take the second floor of the building, with the director, associate director and conference room of the school occupying the long window that dominates the front facade of the building, said Robert Stewart, director of the journalism school.
“It is a stunning view,” Stewart said. “I have no complaints about our footprint in the building.”
Faculty members will be able to choose whether they want to move in during the semester or winter break, Stewart said.
“It’s more of a relief right now to move on with it so we can stop talking about it,” Stewart said. “It would have been nice to move during the summer before we started the semester.”
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@WillDrabold
