McNeil Center opens home on Hill Field

The McNeil Center for Early American Studies finally has a permanent home.

About 200 people attended the center's dedication ceremony last Friday, which signalled the completion of a 14-month construction period.

In the past 26 years the center has inhabited eight locations around campus. But it will now stand indefinitely on Hill Square at the intersection of 34th and Walnut streets.

The 10,000-square-foot building will hold a research center, offices for fellows of the McNeil program and classrooms for undergraduates. The center focuses on North American Atlantic cultures prior to 1850.

McNeil Center Director Daniel Richter said that he and his associates are "thrilled to be in the new building" after dealing with temporary accommodations since the program's founding in 1978.

Vice Dean for Finance and Administration Ramin Sedehi, who attended the opening ceremony, called the program's work "one-of-a-kind."

Speakers at the opening included University President Amy Gutmann and Robert McNeil, whose $2 million donation made the center's $5.3 million construction possible.

Friday's ceremony marked the first event in a weekend-long conference run by the Center for Early American Studies, called Faces and Places of Native America.

This conference brought approximately 40 scholars from around the nation to discuss art and artifacts from Native American history. About 130 scholars attended.

The McNeil building also houses a 70 person lecture hall that will host both classes and the bi-weekly seminars that the center holds on Fridays.

It was designed by Yale School of Architecture Dean Robert Stern.

Other campus renovations are nearing completion as well. Renovations to Fisher-Bennett Hall, which is also located on 34th and Walnut Streets, are in their final stages.

This building, which houses the English Department, will be open for classes at the beginning of the spring semester.

According to Sedehi, an open house showcasing the improvements to the building will be held sometime in mid-January.

These improvements include the renovation of a skylight that was part of the building until the 1950s, when it was removed because of leaks. Music rehearsal rooms, as well as state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment, have also been added to the building.

False ceilings on the fourth floor of the dilapidated building, which used to be a gymnasium for women at Penn, were also removed to increase floor space.

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