"I think the work speaks for itself," said Randall.

In spite of its modernity, the newly unveiled Barker Center sports an amazingly traditional look with large, carved wooden panels and classical palates reminiscent of the old Union.

Students familiar with the old Union may notice the many original busts, memorial plaques and paintings which have been preserve and incorporated into the building's modern design.

The building's new atrium--which occupies the space of the former Great Hall--opens up to an expansive, skylit view of the building's for floors. Here, behind glass walls, builders have preserved the two large fireplaces that graced the ends of the old Union.

A painting of Major Higginson, the original benefactor of the building, still adorns a nearby wall.

Finally, one of a pair of elk-horn chandeliers--which in Harvard's lore have been attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, Class of 1880--still hangs in this atrium.

According to building officials, its counterpart elk-horn chandelier now resides at the New York Harvard Club.

The old Union has also been renovated to include a copy center in the modernized basement. The copy center, run by Harvard publishing, can be utilized by all Harvard students and Faculty, said Randall.

"A majority of the [building] space is for faculty offices; however we do have several meeting rooms said McCarthy.

Each department has it own seminar room and there are seven shared meeting rooms, according to McCarthy and Randall.

If the professors and graduates should so choose, students may soon be attending classes in some of those new seminar rooms, said McCarthy.

Although it is currently undergoing last-minute construction operations, the Barker Center will remain open through Commencement according to planners