Issue date: 2/1/02 Section: News

Media Credit: brian alford

The Murphy House, which will be complete in late February or early March, will bring more opportunities for students to visit with lecturers and performers on an informal and impromptu level.

Talk of creating a house for guests of the Murphy Program began in 1984. Guests of the Murphy Program have previously been housed in local hotels, which made it hard for students to interact in a one-on-one or small group level. With the new house, the Murphy guests will stay on campus and be able to have more interaction with the students and faculty. Construction of the new house began in April of 2001, and it will be open to visitors in the spring term of 2002. The house was originally scheduled to be completed in January of 2002.

"Because of weather and changes to the project, such as to the interior of the house, the date was moved back to the end of March," commented J.D. Thompson, director of special projects.

The house will be used for the administrative functions of the Murphy Program as well as for the residential facilities it will provide to guests. The top floor consists of two apartments; a suite for guests staying an extended amount of time and an accommodating lounge, set as in hotel room style for guests only staying one night. The house will also contain the administrative offices of the Murphy Program, a conference room, and a convivial room for small group discussions. A large seminar atrium covers the entire south side for the house.

"Our larger programs will continue to be held in Reeves, but programs that only draw 40 to 50 people and the Foreign Film series will be held in the seminar room, which is arch shaped and seats 50 people," stated Nell Doyle, Associate Director of the Murphy Program.

If plans continue to go as desired, Alison Sutton, a theater director from Australia, who currently resides in New York, will be the first performer to stay in the Murphy House. The first lecturer to stay at the Murphy House will be Colleen McKenna, who will speak on Irish Poet, Seamus Heaney.

"The Murphy House will also be used for such things as the Aonian-Murphy reading, held on honors day, and guests of other programs, such as the Steele-Hendrix program are also invited to stay at there," said Doyle.

The dedication of the Murphy House will be early in the fall semester of 2002.

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