The Journalism Department Gets a New Home

After more than a decade at 10 Washington Place, the Journalism Department will move in the fall 2006 to a state-of-the-art facility at 20 Cooper Square, on the Bowery. The new two-story loft space will boast new seminar rooms, computer classrooms, digital broadcast equipment and upgraded technology for students and staff.

“I’ve been in this department almost three decades and the new building will be better designed than anything we’ve ever had,” said Professor Mitchell Stephens, head of the Space Committee spearheading the project. “This is a major expression of support by the University in the Journalism program. We consider this to be a first-rate space and unlike anything in our history. It is in recognition of the continued growth and strength of the journalism department.”

The top two floors of 20 Cooper Square offer twice as much space as the combined six floors at 10 Washington Place. An interior staircase will connect the spaces, which are marked by high ceilings, skylights and windows on three sides of the building. Students and faculty will benefit from a newsroom-styled work lounge, digital television monitors showing international news broadcasts, meeting rooms, a coffee bar and enough room to accommodate all current professors and a number of anticipated hires. Plans also include a large 100-person capacity television studio with capabilities for presentations, brown bag luncheons and film screenings.

Professors Jay Rosen, Brooke Kroeger and Marcia Rock are also members of the Committee whose next goal is to name an architect. The Committee is considering several renowned figures with experience in designing journalism and broadcast spaces and expects to finalize the selection by this summer.

The cost of the project is still undetermined, though it will be a major expense for the University, which is now the primary source of funds. Unique fundraising opportunities for alumni will arise after the announcement of the plans as donors will have the opportunity to put their name on a room, wing or floor.

The department has been in discussions with the University for a new space since the 2003 academic year, when it received official approval to start the process. It seemed likely that the Journalism Department would move to the Puck Building, but those plans fell through at the last minute, setting the move back one year. The space at 20 Cooper is larger than that in the Puck Building and is more readily adaptable to the needs of the department.

“We want this to be a very attractive, perhaps spectacular space,” said Stephens. “We hope it will be a space where we can run new programs, sign out laptops, have wireless capabilities, upload broadcast materials onto the web and move into the future. We also hope the space will encourage students and faculty to spend more time working and talking in our building.”