Cougar news staff
The communication disorders department, which recently separated from the School of Communication, is finally seeing progress on the new building it had been promised for years.
Construction has begun on the new building, which COMD will share with the psychology department.
The South Office Annex, where the COMD program is currently housed, has no hot water, regularly floods and has an infestation of rats.
The staff has been waiting for five years to be relocated, and three years ago half of the building was condemned.
Lynn Bliss, program head for Communication Disorders, called the condition "unbelievable" last year. "We see children and adult clients in this building," Bliss said.
The department provides speech therapy to many clients every week. The building even houses a preschool for children with speech disorders.
The construction near Entrance 9 signals the end of a long struggle for the COMD staff. In addition, Parking Lot 9 and other lots are undergoing a facelift, according to the Office of Architectural Services.
As a part of "Parking Lots '98," some parking areas are being re-paved and having potholes filled, including Lot 9, which is near the site of the new COMD facility.