Dividing FLAUD

Plans call for Perreault Hall breakup

In addition to plans for a new parking garage, a new academic building, and renovations to Olin 107, WPI may soon be renovating Perreault Hall in Fuller Labs. These changes, which are still not finalized, would take place sometime in 2002.

Currently, the plans for Perreault Hall involve turning it into four new classrooms. One classroom would be a 125 seat auditorium, one would be a classroom that seats about 40, and two would be set up for both Advanced Distance Learning and normal classroom use. Those two classrooms would each seat about 50 people. These rooms will largely be used by the management department, which will move to Fuller Labs after the completion of the new academic building.

Currently, these changes are planned for the summer of 2002, and will take about eight months of total construction. However, according to the Provost, John Carney, the total cost of construction has yet to be determined. Also, there is currently no source of funding for the project. The final decisions regarding Perreault Hall will have to be based on these two factors. If these renovations do not go through, it is unclear how this will affect the plans for the new academic building. As mentioned in an earlier Tech News article (March 20), one reason that the size of the new building was reduced was because of the planned renovations in Perreault.

There are several reasons why Perreault Hall will be changed in this manner. One reason is that many professors do not like teaching in the facility. Many professors have complained that it is too big and difficult to teach in, and only very rarely do classes come close to filling the lecture hall. Another reason is that such a large lecture hall is becoming less and less necessary as WPI is striving to reduce classroom size. Many introductory courses, such as freshman chemistry, are being divided into sections with more professors for a better teaching environment. As this trend continues, a large lecture hall becomes unnecessary. Another reason is that it will reduce the size of the new academic building, which would likely reduce the overall construction costs for building new academic space for campus.

One question that has arisen from the discussion of changes to Perreault is the fate of SocComm's Sunday night movies. SGA President Rachel Bowers brought this point up at the most recent Trustee's meeting, but the decision was made to go ahead with moving toward these renovations. One suggestion made by the Provost was to move the movies to either Newell Hall or to Olin 107 after it is renovated. Ian Munger of the SocComm Films committee questions the feasibility of this move. According to Munger, neither hall is currently set up for movie projection. To add a projection booth would mean additional wiring, plumbing, and new projector parts, in addition to the construction costs of building the booth. According to Munger, the costs of such changes could be prohibitive.

Despite these questions, it is likely that plans for renovating Perreault will continue. Students and faculty will likely be enjoying the new classrooms around 2003. It is still uncertain whether or not SocComm will be able to continue showing Sunday night movies.