WELCOME ISSUE
Buildings
PAGE 5
what exactly is HERE???
Hunt
1st - clinic with infir
mary room
lobby
SLI office
mailboxes
laundry room
kitchen
male dorm
2nd - male dorms
3rd - male dorms
4th - male dorms
PEC
1st- student and
faculty lockers
faculty offices
game rooms
dance studio
handball/racquetball
rooms
gymnasium
weightlifting room
classroom
training room
equipment room
ooL OF Science and mathematics
Graphic courtesy of
Michael Wlodek and the
Communications Department
ETC
The Educational
Technology Com
plex (ETC) will
provide educational
services to N.C.’s
students and teach
ers through its Dis
tance Learning Pro
gram. The ETC will
include four multi-
media labs for distance
learning, media-
equipped lecture hall,
700-seat auditorium, elec
tronic music lab, recording stu
dio, vedio and graphics production
studio, and computer center. In addi
tion to student artwork and early S&M
memorabilia, the ground floor’s stu
dent area will contain a section of the
Durham Woolworth’s old lunch
counter where some of the first sit-ins
were held.
Wyche renovation
yield outreach center
BY Jennifer Li
New life will be pumped into
Wyche House, the condemned dormi
tory, as it is transformed into the
Royall Outreach Center, a 17,000
square foot “living and learning
space”.
The Royall Outreach Center
(ROC) will be instrumental in
NCSSM’s outreach program, housing
seminars, workshops, and other pro
grams for teachers from all areas of
North Carolina.
“We hope to help expand our pro
grams throughout the state. It will
expand our influence,” said Ed
McBride, Director of Operations.
Resources such as NCSSM’s teachers
could best be utilized by such pro
grams as distance learning and the
ROC.
The ROC will contain a computer
lab, commons area, and dorm rooms,
but Sally Adkins, Director of Special
Programs, Institutional Research and
Evaluation (SPIRE), said that these
facilities will not be available to stu
dents. Current students have ex
pressed concern.
“Before Wyche was condemned,
it was for students. They should keep
it that way.” said senior Cenita Dob
son.
“They should use the money to
bring new students here instead,” se
nior Monique Williams agreed.
McBride, however, disagrees, ex
plaining that just increasing the resi
dential program would not use
NCSSM’s resources as efficiently as
outreach.
“[This project] is not discourag
ing the residential life in any way, “
said McBride. According to McBride,
housing outreach programs that ben
efit the whole state, such as the ROC,
puts NCSSM in good favor with the
NC General Assembly next time it
seeks money for its residential life.
For example, the residential program
could not have received the student
center, auditorium, and other
accomodations in the ETC, if the dis
tance-learning center did not reside
there.
Now that the ROC’s purpose and
functions have been finalized, the
school is working on the logistical
details of the construction. The ROC
has over a million dollars, with
$650,000 from state funding and the
rest from foundations and personal
pledges. The school is now waiting
for O’Brian-Atkins, the firm that has
been contracted for the construction,
to give a price quote before they can
begin.
“We’ll try to overlap the two con
structions,” said Adkin, referring to the
construction of the ETC and the cen
ter. Despite this, the estimated
completion date is still uncertain, but
McBride hopes construction will fin
ish within two years.
McBride explained that first the
asbestos must be removed from
Wyche before other construction can
begin. He suggested that the renova
tion could be sped up by covering the
lead paint and asbestos with plaster,
and these methods are just as safe.
Even though the school is anxious
to finish the project, the building’s
aesthetics and historical background
will be preserved.
“We’re really committed to the
historical aspect, “ Adkin said. She
said that Wyche could not be torn
down and started from scratch because
it is an historical landmark protected
by law.
Once serving as a nurse’s dormi
tory in historic Watt’s Hospital, then
as a residence hall for NCSSM, Wyche
House has been transformed through
out the years. It will now be moving
into a new era in its existence, one that
will change its name to the ROC.