Hundreds attend Simon Hall dedication

Simon Hall is the most recent contribution the Simon family has made to IU and Bloomington, but it is not the first, said Mayor Mark Kruzan at the Simon Hall dedication ceremony today.\n“Now you can literally go from Simon Hall to a Simon Mall in a matter of a few minutes,” Kruzan said to a crowd of about 300 in the courtyard between Myers Hall and Simon Hall.\nSimon Hall is the first of three multidisciplinary science buildings IU plans to build to enhance its life science initiative, said IU spokesman David M. Bricker. It is located between Myers Hall and the chemistry building. IU broke ground for the second building north of 10th Street three weeks ago, Bricker said. The third building is still being planned, Bricker said.\nSimon Hall has no classrooms, Bricker said. It was built for office and laboratory space only, Bricker said.\n“There is a desperate need for laboratory space on campus,” he added. “In some cases, scientists are sharing labs.”\nThe new research space in Simon Hall has been “great thus far,” said Viola Ellison, assistant professor of biology. Ellison moved from her old laboratory in Myers Hall to her new laboratory on the third floor of Simon Hall on Sept. 18. Ellison said she sees Simon Hall as “biology central” because of its location between Myers and Jordan Halls. Underground passages link the three buildings, Ellison said.\n“We needed more space. We were really crowded,” Ellison said. “Since we moved over here, people are taking our old space.”