It's the most expensive building in University history and one of the largest on campus, but the Sidney Frank Hall for Life Sciences now goes ignored by most students.
Throughout the day, many students follow the planned pathway of the Walk - the greensward that will eventually link Lincoln Field with the Pembroke campus - and cross beneath the skywalk that links the two wings of the LiSci, which opened in October and houses the departments of neuroscience and molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry. But few students actually enter the building.
"It still seems like people are still discovering it as a work space and a study space," said Paul Krueger '07 as he waited to meet with his thesis adviser in the LiSci.
"It may look lonelier than it really is, obviously, because a lot of the space is lab space," said Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president. "The real life of the building is in the labs where students and faculty are working."
"If you know where to look, there's quite a lot of activity," said Barry Connors, professor of neuroscience and chair of the department.
The LiSci is divided into two wings. The west wing houses its distinctive atrium and administrative offices for both departments, while the east wing - known as the "tower" - contains faculty offices and labs.
"It's such a huge building, it'll take time for it to feel like it's being used," Krueger said.
The Metcalf Chemistry and Metcalf Research buildings, which used to house the neuroscience department, contain large classrooms for introductory undergraduate courses, but the LiSci has only one 98-seat auditorium.
"As far as the Registrar's Office controlling spaces for classes, (the auditorium) is the only room we have control over," said University Registrar Michael Pesta.
This semester, only five courses are assigned by the Registrar's Office to meet in the LiSci, though some professors hold seminars for upperclassmen and graduate students in departmental conference rooms.
"There's definitely more teaching space than we had before," Connors said.
"(The building) could have used a really big lecture hall," said James McIlwain, professor emeritus of neuroscience, but he cited the need to make more room for graduate students as a key reason why plans for a large lecture hall were abandoned.
"It's designed mainly as a research building, and I think that's mainly what it's being used for," said Carlos Aizenman, assistant professor of neuroscience.
Though major construction was finished prior to the building's dedication ceremony in early October, the building was only granted a temporary certificate of occupancy by the city that allowed only special events related to its dedication to be held inside.
In November, the LiSci was issued a full occupancy certificate, wrote Paul Dietel, assistant director of design and construction for Facilities Management, in an e-mail to The Herald.
Following the dedication, a company hired by the University, Sterling Office Services, began the process of moving the two departments into the LiSci, Dietel wrote. Connors told The Herald in September that the process of moving his department into the LiSci would take roughly six weeks.
"It was a very elaborate schedule," McIlwain said. Sterling employees e-mailed departments a series of master spreadsheets and schedules that indicated when each laboratory and office would be moved.
The Department of Neuroscience began moving in December and completed the process as the spring semester began.
"We should give the administration and particularly the people who organized the move credit (for such a smooth moving process)," Connors said. "Almost all the labs are up to speed in terms of research. ... We're open for business."
Spies said only a few minor construction projects within the building's animal quarters still had to be completed after the dedication ceremony.
"Any expectation I had for (the facility) has been realized," Spies said.
Aizenman said he enjoys the benefits of a building specifically designed to suit his department's needs. "We got a say in how we designed (our laboratories) to some degree," he said.
So far, the LiSci has only experienced hiccups characteristic of any new facility.
"It's a big, complex place because it's a research building," Connors said.
McIlwain said motion-controlled light systems in faculty offices have been deactivated after the system proved troublesome because the lights shut off if a room's occupant stood still for too long.
South-facing faculty offices are also expected to be refitted soon with darker window-shades, Connors said.
