Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Norris Hall's doors to re-open at Virginia Tech
By Robert Bowman
The Collegiate Times (Virginia Tech)
06/07/2007

(U-WIRE) BLACKSBURG, Va. — Norris Hall will be opened to students, faculty and staff on June 18 after more than two months of being closed to the public. The university announced the plans to reoccupy the building on Tuesday.

Norris, the site of the deadliest shooting in U.S. history was closed on April 16 after 30 people were killed before the gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, took his own life.

The building will be used for engineering offices for both the department of civil and environmental engineering and the department of engineering science and mechanics.

There will not be any classes inside Norris.

Larry Hincker, the associate vice president of university relations, said that the university has been meeting for about a week and a half to discuss what to do with Norris, but that it has been receiving input on various opinions on what to do with the building since April 16.

The university decided not to tear down the building for many reasons, including the importance of laboratory equipment and the impossibility of relocating much of it.

"There is some of the most sophisticated labs in the world in there," Hincker said. Keeping Norris closed would effectively shut down the ESM department and the research conducted inside the building.

Richard Benson, the dean of the college of engineering, said that the laboratory equipment in Norris simply could not be relocated.

"The department of engineering science and mechanics has some very special lab equipment in there," he said. The equipment has taken years to develop and is special to the department, Benson said.

Ishwar Puri, the head of the engineering science and mechanics department, said that it is vitally important to return to Norris, where he can go back to conducting research. Not doing so, he said, would impair his ability to teach.

Although many faculty members within the college of engineering are excited about moving back into the building, some students retain their reservations.

Kristen Wickham, a sophomore in biochemistry, and a close friend of Caitlin Hammaren, who was killed on the second floor of Norris, is not supportive of the university's decision to keep the building.

"I would have preferred them to tear it down," she said. "I think it's going to be a problem for a lot of people seeing it every day."

"I think the general opinion is that no one really wants to see it," Wickham said. "Whenever you do see it, you're going to think of what had happened there."

James Scheiner, a senior in building construction, has had a class in Norris, and agrees with Wickham that the building should not be used by students. However, he supports the university and their decision to open the building for faculty.

"I think it's good to that they won't have students there," he said. "I think it would be kind of hard to try to learn in there."

Since classes will not be held inside Norris, the registrar will now have to relocate many of the classes to other buildings. This problem is amplified by the fact that the university is already oversubscribed in the classrooms, Hincker said.

"Our space utilization of general classrooms at Virginia Tech is already more than 100 percent based on the guidelines for the state council of education," Hincker said.

Although the space is limited, the university had no desire to ask students to return to the building for classes.

"We're not going to send anyone into the student-purpose classrooms," he said.

The largest classroom in Norris, Norris 136, has been renamed Holden 190. The room is connected to both Holden Hall and Norris, but the basement exit to the room opens to Norris. The university is refurbishing the classroom this summer, taking advantage of the fact that the second floor of Norris is closed. The classroom holds a maximum of 220 students.

The dean's office for the college of engineering has also been displaced since April 16. The office was located on the third floor of Norris, on the wing of the building closest to Holden Hall.

Currently, the dean's office is leasing space off campus in the Gateway Center on Prices Fork road. The office may remain there for a few years, Benson said. One advantage of having the office off campus is the proximity of personnel. If the dean's office were to move on campus, it would be displaced throughout the various academic buildings.

"I don't like the idea of having the dean's office off campus," Benson said. "But if I had the choice of being together or being on campus, I am going to choose being together."

A security guard will be guarding the single entrance to the building — the arch between Norris and Holden. Only students, faculty and staff will be allowed into the building, showing their Hokie Passport.

Media will be allowed to enter the building for viewing on June 14.

The university hopes to announce the plans for a permanent memorial by the end of this week, Hincker said.

[ Back to Student Voices ]