South quad entrance to reopen by fall | The Triangle

South quad entrance to reopen by fall

After a long hiatus, the pathway leading through the Korman Quad will be opened up to Drexel students for use before the beginning of the fall term.

The path, which leads through the quad opening onto Chestnut Street, was originally closed off in 2008 due to the beginning of construction on the new Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building.

According to Gennaro Leva, Drexel’s senior director of construction planning, the path will still be closed off for as long as possible because of some last-minute paving work that needs to be done before students arrive back on campus in the fall.

“We’re looking to have it opened around the first week in September, but maybe even a little sooner,” Leva said.

Brittany Cumens, a junior majoring in behavioral health counseling, counted herself as one of those excited to hear that the path would be opening soon.

“I’m pretty stoked,” Cumens said. “I hate walking down 33rd. It’s so out of the way. Half of my classes are in MacAlister and it’s going to be nice to get to Creese faster in the mornings for breakfast.”

Despite being at Drexel for two years, Cumens has yet to use the path hidden behind the blue barricades that have lined the construction sites around Drexel’s campus.

However, Nick Golia, a junior majoring in business, remembers that it was only a few weeks into his freshman year when the path was shut down.

“I was angry at first. It was super convenient to walk that way to the bookstore or the Hans,” Golia said. “But then realistically I got more apathetic toward it as the years went on simply because I wasn’t going to the dining hall as much and I had less business over there and I got used to it to a degree.”

Construction that caused the path to be closed off is part of the Drexel Master Plan, an itinerary for the improvement of Drexel from the present until the University’s sesquicentennial in 2041. The Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building was one of 11 projects that were specifically enumerated in the 2007 Master Plan.

According to the Master Plan website, another 10 building projects “have been suggested for the period beyond 2012, one of which was to close the 32nd Street cut-through from Market to 32nd Street and improve the landscape in front of Firestone.”

Despite his indifference to the use of the path now, Golia still has a positive outlook concerning its opening.

“I’m excited partially because, yeah, it was convenient,” Golia said. “But it also shows that this construction has an end in sight because it seems like every day there’s something new popping up. It’s good to see they’re finishing some of it.”

More information about the changes occurring in the Drexel Master Plan can be found at http://drexelmasterplan.wordpress.com.