Correction appended.
Professors in the Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences moved into a temporary home at 229 Waterman St. over the summer.
The relocation to Wayland Square was caused by the long-term construction taking place in the Metcalf Lab, scheduled to be fully renovated by fall 2011.
James Morgan, a professor in the department who has been involved in building plans for the Metcalf Lab since 1995, said the renovation was much needed. The building was "in the worst condition on campus," he said.
The new Metcalf Lab will have an updated and wheelchair-accessible auditorium, a new roof and energy-efficient windows, The Herald reported in July.
As for the temporary building in Wayland Square, Morgan said it was "quite nice and clean."The problems that plagued the old Metcalf space are not an issue in the new site, he said: "Things work; we don't have flooding and paint isn't peeling."
Nick Varone '12, who has worked in Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences William Warren's Virtual Environment Navigation lab since his freshman year, also had good things to say about the lab space on Waterman Street. "It's a lot more modern, and everything is carpeted," he said. "It's a little bit of a maze and takes some getting used to, but it definitely serves its purpose."
According to Morgan, another of the advantages the new site has over Metcalf is space for parking, a "perennial problem" for his lab. Because his lab primarily researches language acquisition in infants, he must recruit families — many of which come by car — from the local community to come in for the studies. On campus, parking for these participants was limited to part of the parking lot behind Minden Hall, but at the temporary site, there is a parking lot right next to the building.
Morgan said his research frequently requires participants to return to the lab more than once, which was made difficult by the limited parking space. "As far as parking goes, this is paradise," Morgan said of the new Wayland Square location. But one concern that both Morgan and Varone addressed was the new site's distance from the main campus. Though it wasn't a major concern for Varone, who had a car to use for the commute, he mentioned that "during the semester, (the distance) will be a lot more of a problem for students."
The virtual environment lab has added an incentive to lure in participants, who are mostly Brown students — the department is increasing the compensation for the studies by $5.
Varone said the moving process itself was not too much of an issue for the professors and students involved. With the help of a moving company, the relocation, which "could've been very troublesome and problematic," was "only somewhat stressful," he said.
Morgan especially praised Lori Rolf, the manager of his lab. "She's always done an outstanding job. She took charge of the move and was completely fantastic," he said.
While Morgan said he was happy to have an opportunity to get to know the neighborhood around Wayland Square a little better, he still said that he is "looking forward to moving back to Metcalf and being back on campus." He said the move back will likely take place early in 2012.
"And hopefully the parking situation will be fixed one way or another," he added.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences William Warren's Virtual Environment Navigation lab has decided to increase the hourly rate for its study participants by $5 to lure them in to the new location. In fact, the $5 increase is department-wide and is paid for by the University, as opposed to the individual labs. Additionally, the increase is not based on a per-hour rate, but rather per experimental session. The Herald regrets the error.
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