Twenty years ago, on May 17, 2002 the Department of Physics broke ground for the Physics research Building! A shovel used for the ceremony sits in a corner of the Chair's office.  

"On May 17, 2002, the Department of Physics at The Ohio State University will break ground on a state-of-the art Physics Research Building. The ceremony will take place from 3:30-5:30 with presentations beginning at 3:45, at the site of the new building, located on Woodruff Avenue between Hitchcock Hall and Johnston Laboratory. Speakers will include William E. Kirwan, President of The Ohio State University, Zuheir Sofia, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Robert Gold, Dean of the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, William Saam, Chair of the Department of Physics, and senior physics major Karoline Gilbert. Displays will feature blueprints of the new space, as well as archival photos from the construction of Smith Laboratory, the current home of the Department of Physics. Refreshments will be served.

The 233,739 square foot building will house the department’s administrative offices, conference space, and faculty offices, as well as 210 laboratory modules. The design features a stunning atrium and adjoining patio space. Interaction is the focus of open spaces throughout the building, and a highlight of the atrium floor is the Robert Smith Seminar Room."

Smith Lab was built in 1945. The Physics Lounge occupies what was the former Physics Library.  The key to the laboratory that Prof. Alpheus W. Smith used hangs on the wall above the shovel in the Chair's office.