English Dept. Plans Small-Scale Move

Some junior faculty in the English Department will move into a new office building Wednesday as part of an effort to centralize the department and provide space for senior appointments, Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) officials said this week.

Department members will move into about two dozen spaces located at 8 Prescott St., a building across from the Freshman Union, said Director of the Office of Physical Operations for FAS Michael E. Williams. He said the University spent about $1 million to convert the former freshman dormitory into faculty offices.

Currently, members of the English Department are given space near the Union in Warren House, at 34 Kirkland St., at 17 Summer Rd. or in Widener Library.

In addition, tutors and lecturers in the Literature Department will move from 51 Brattle St. to 8 Prescott next week. But the creative writing program will remain at 34 Kirkland St.

"The move allows for senior appointments," said Celia M. Kent, an FAS physical planning analyst. She added that, now, the English Department "can appoint new faculty and have room for them."

Although renovations are not yet completed, English's undergraduate assistant Mary C. Johnson said the move will take place anyway. "They [the construction crew] will have to work around us," Johnson said.

But Daniel J. Reens, the construction company supervisor, said the building would be ready. And Williams said remaining work mostly concerns the exterior and hallways. He added that a parking lot will be paved this winter.

Renovations began last May, but this week workers said they still had to finish painting, carpeting and wallpapering. They have already replaced heating, air conditioning and fire alarms and performed structural renovations, Reens said.

In January, the Womens Studies concentration plans to move its offices into the space vacated by the English Department.

Irish Folksinger To Play Sanders

Richard Thompson, an Irish folksinger whose album "Amnesia" is listed among the Billboard top 100, will be performing two shows tomorrow night at Sanders Theatre.

Sunday's concerts will be the last North American stop of Thompson's current tour. Folktree Concerts, local promoters, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Irish Cultural Society, are sponsoring the Sanders performances.

Amnesia, which has drawn critical acclaim, has a musical range that spans from an adaptation of poet William Blake's "Jerusalem" to mainstream rock songs, like Thompson's current hit, "Turning of the Tide."

Harry Lipson of Folktree Concerts said, "We think Sanders is one of the nicest theaters in the country." The reasons he named for Sanders' selection were, "the wood, the stained glass, the large stage, and the fabulous acoustics. The place just has a great feeling to it," he said.