New Building Opens At Stern

After months of dawdling, planning, working, and anticipation, Yeshiva University officially opened its new building at the Midtown campus. The building, located at 215 Lexington Avenue, was purchased by the university two years ago in an ongoing effort to expand its midtown campus.

The new building is in addition to the existing midtown center and the art annex which have been overflowing because of the great enrollment expansion Stern College has undergone since the mid-nineties. The building will help alleviate the strain placed on the main center and the Stern administration, which has struggled in the past to find space for its ever-growing student body.

For the Spring semester, the bulk of English department classes were moved to the new location. This came as a surprise to both teachers and students who left for vacation thinking classes would resume in the overcrowded main center. To their delight, signs that were posted informed students that classes would be held in the new location, which features larger, well lit rooms.

Yeshiva owns the entire building at 215 Lexington Avenue, however presently only the lobby and seventh floor are being used. In addition to completing the second and third floors for classroom space, the university plans to include a dinning area and student lounge on the first floor. An escalator will run from the lobby to the third floor to alleviate elevator traffic. Although there are four elevators in the building, Yeshiva is only permitting its students to use one of them. Current plans are to complete these projects for the Fall 2000 semester.

Currently it is unclear what will be done with the current midtown center. It is also unclear precisely when the theater Yeshiva purchased two years ago will be functional. The University has installed a state-of-the-art sound system in the theater which will be used for lectures, concerts and Stern plays, however they declined to install a proper lighting system.

According to students who spoke with him, Mr. Rosengarten said that a consultant determined that it was "more cost-effective for the university to rent lights on a need basis than to install their own computerized system." This statement is in contrast to a Commentator inquiry that surveyed theater experts, lighting technicians and engineers, all of whom quickly concluded that the installation of a permanent lighting system would serve the building better and save the University money in the long term.

Most students seem to be excited about the new building, "It is a good start and I hope there is more to come," said April Simon, Stern College Student Council President.