The construction site known as the new physics building may be closer to opening its doors than to having a name.

The 19th Avenue site – former home of the Welding Engineering Building – has been under construction since last autumn.

The current home of the physics department, Smith Laboratory, was built in 1949 and has surpassed its prime.

The new building will have a research laboratory along with increased space, said Will Saam, chair of the Department of Physics. The design of the building considered the need for open areas in order to facilitate communication.

“The ease of interaction is very important,” Saam said.

John Whitcomb, the department’s administrative manager, said the primary function of the building will be research, including offices for each of the department’s 150 graduate students, allowing them more space to complete research.

Undergraduate academic operations will remain in Smith Laboratory, but undergraduate students will have access to the facility to complete research as well. The machine shop and temperature laboratory will stay in Smith Laboratory, Saam said.

The physics building version 2.0 is scheduled to be completed by September 2004.

“It’s almost a replacement – it’s a $72 million problem with $52 million solution,” Whitcomb said.

Unfortunately, there is not enough money, Whitcomb said. The physics department is hoping that someone will come forward and purchase naming rights to the structure, increasing the amount of money going to the department. The price tag for naming rights is $7.5 million.

Two formulas exist in determining the price of naming the new facility. The first method decides the price by dividing the building’s private gift goal in two, which wasn’t the case in this instance. Instead, the department decided that 15 percent of the building’s cost would suffice.

Donors’ names can also be found on classrooms and laboratories. Purchasing the naming rights to a department meeting room runs $500,000; $250,000 gets a laboratory. The prices are determined by the development office in connection with the physics department, said John Meyer, associate vice president of development.

Meyer said the donor will most likely be a former physics student because Ohio State will not allow a building to be named after a company.

Once a donor is found, the university will do a background check on the individual. If the donor has a criminal background, they will not accept the donation, Meyer said. The donor has to be approved by the Department of Physics, the President’s Cabinet and the Board of Trustees.

“Once the Board of Trustees approves the name, it is a done deal,” Meyer said.

The name is subject to change if individual circumstances occur, but Meyer said this has never happened at OSU.