Eliza Murphy '06

The Board of Trustees is re-evaluating the opening of the Koch Science Center, originally set for the fall of 2005. Although there is still hope that the building will be ready for occupancy by the next school year, this hope is diminishing. Jeff Louis, chairman of the Board of Trustees, has advised people involved with this project to be aware of the possibility that the Koch Center will indeed not open on time.

In order for the science center to open as scheduled, the building must be entirely enclosed by November 1. Once the brick walls have been laid and all the windows installed, the contractors can more accurately predict when the 78,000-square-foot building will be finished. However, it appears unlikely at this point that the building will be entirely enclosed by November.

The setbacks in the progress are the result of several factors. The complexity of the building involves techniques that have never been tried before. For example, one major task is the installation of more than one million bricks to enclose the building.

The roof of the science center will absorb an analemma, an image of the sun, which will then be projected onto the main lobby wall. It was decided that it was not worth it to rush the construction by adding less skilled masons to the work force.

"We don't have any control over the construction of the building, because it's not our construction project," science teacher Julie Cullen said. "We're just all waiting for the okay to move in. From the start, the majority of us thought that a late August/early September opening date was a little bit optimistic, especially because of the size and complicated construction techniques the workers are planning on using."

Another factor delaying progress was the unusual amount of rain this summer. Because of the rain, a number of construction projects that require dry weather were not completed on schedule. Although the actual construction over the summer was less than hoped for, the steel work was completed and the majority of the concrete slabs were poured The contractors also found answers to challenging construction questions, such as the layout of the 27 new classrooms. A substantial amount of time was spent working in the mock classroom (located on the second floor of the Memorial Building) to figure out proper lighting and technology.

The revised estimated date of finish is mid-October of next year, but along with this comes the issue of convenience, it would be inconvenient to move into the new science center during the middle of the fall term, so the building will probably open for occupancy after a vacation, such as Thanksgiving or Winter Break.

As physics teacher David Howell said, "The bottom line is that, while the likelihood that we won't be able to move into the Koch Center for the very beginning of the 2005 school year is disappointing, the short wait will be well worth it, and the entire Deerfield Community will surely be delighted with the ultimate result. This will be a stunning facility."