For some academic departments, move-in day happened later than usual this semester.
The West Duke building on East Campus reopened in mid-September after initial project delays, and the departments formerly housed in the building have been moving back in over the past several weeks. West Duke closed in February following a ceiling collapse on the second floor and remained closed to allow the completion of other renovations scheduled for the building, such as a new sprinkler system, roof replacement and a new elevator. Classes are expected to resume in West Duke in the Spring semester.
Professors said they are pleased to be back in their original spaces after months of disruption.
“A challenge has been regaining your work habits of coming to the office, meeting your colleagues, and exchanging ideas with them instead of sitting at home, going to class, and going back home,” said Alex Rosenberg, philosophy department chair and R. Taylor Cole professor of philosophy.
West Duke contains the offices for the education, mathematics and philosophy departments as well as the Kenan Institute for Ethics and the Army ROTC. These departments have spent the past three weeks moving into their new space, said Lynn Joyner, the project and building manager for Trinity College of Arts and Sciences.
The philosophy department began moving into West Duke last week, but is far from returning to the status quo—though the transition has not been without its lighter moments.
“For the first week I was on automatic pilot, walking right into the East Duke building,” Rosenberg said. “When I would get there I would start laughing, thinking, ‘what am I doing? I don’t live here anymore.’”
The building was originally scheduled to open in time for the Fall semester, but delayed building permits from the city of Durham set the project back several weeks, The Chronicle previously reported.
Rosenberg added that there is still some construction equipment—including ladders—inside West Duke, but appreciates the new renovations, which include higher ceilings, new carpeting, repainted walls, thermostats and motion-activated lights. He noted that, although he recognizes the University's efforts to handle the situation, the short-term hassle may not outweigh the long-term benefits.
“In my opinion, the nice touches and improvements weren’t worth the seven months of dislocation,” Rosenberg said. “The only real complaint that I have is the failure to provide satisfactory alternative accommodations.”
The overall cost for the project was “right on the approved budget” of $5.8 million, said Executive Vice President Tallman Trask.
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