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Grant sparks Basic Science Auditorium renovation by Dick Peterson Public Relations The Elf Foundation, a California-based audio-visual manufacturers non-profit organization, wanted to “do something for children,” said Vanessa Hill, transplant liaison for the MUSC Transplant Center. So, they began selecting hospitals and the MUSC Transplant Center among them. As a result, the Basic Science Building Auditorium is undergoing a major renovation. What the foundation had in mind was to electronically outfit a room at the university where children in the hospital and children returning for treatment can view movies and enjoy other child-oriented productions. That room turned out to be BSB-100. About $250,000 in “top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art equipment is going into the renovation that will allow the auditorium to double as a theater when it’s not needed as a classroom.  In addition, D.R. Horton Inc. is donating its labor to install new carpet, more lighting, professionally redesign the interior, and replace the seats that Hill said will most likely be fitted with laptop hookups. Benefactors, by the way, will have the opportunity to purchase seats for the auditorium and have them engraved ‘in honor of....”  “Children who have received transplants have traded a fatal disease for a chronic one,” Hill said. “We're trying to create an emotional outlet for them and all the other wonderful children here at MUSC while our doctors treat them physically.” She said that because many in the Children’s Hospital are unable to leave their rooms, the renovation will include equipment to pipe movies and other productions into rooms across campus in the Children’s Hospital. “None of the renovations will change the primary purpose for the Basic Science Building Auditorium,” Hill said.  “The auditorium will still be as available as always for classroom teaching. It’s just that when it’s not in use for teaching, it will be equipped for children’s movies.” And although the renovation will expand the auditorium’s use for children, the equipment and seating to be installed will upgrade the teaching resources available to MUSC professors. “We’re doing everything we can to ensure that classes are not disrupted and that the completed renovation will enhance the teaching environment of the auditorium,” Hill said. The committee overseeing the renovation includes an MUSC student and a faculty member, she said.