Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Jerzy Nowak at Norris Hall at Virginia Tech.

Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Barry Simmons (right) gives Jerzy Nowak a tour of the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention in Virginia Tech's Norris Hall.

The Roanoke Times | File

BLACKSBURG -- Nearly two years and $1 million in renovations removed from the April 16, 2007, shootings, the second floor of Virginia Tech's Norris Hall will reopen today to serve a purpose that is both new and familiar.

The 4,300 square feet of space that once held the classrooms where Seung-Hui Cho killed 30 faculty members and students and himself has been reconstructed to host community space for the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics as well as the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention.

"I think that the fundamental guiding principle behind reoccupying the space has really been to carry on a legacy," said Ishwar Puri, the engineering department head.

While no classes will be taught in the building, Puri said that dedicating the space to students and learning honors the legacy of those who died. He plans to begin using the space this spring.

Horticulture professor Jerzy Nowak and his stepdaughter Francine Dulong proposed the center in late 2007 after the university requested ideas about how to reoccupy the space. The university said no traditional classes will be taught in the building again.

Dulong came up with the idea days after the shootings, in which her mother and Nowak's wife, Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, was among those killed. Jerzy Nowak was named director of the center in May and has been operating it out of an office in Wallace Hall.

Nowak acknowledges that working where the tragedy occurred could be difficult. His move is scheduled for April 23-24, after today's symbolic opening and an open house on the April 16 anniversary.

"My feelings are secondary," he said. "You will always have moments of weakness. I mean, it is not like you can block it forever. But at the same time I believe this location in the Norris Hall is so critical. It deserves this space as the center of operation."

Nowak has been a professor of horticulture at Tech since 2000. Since becoming the center's director, much of his time has been spent writing grant proposals and developing relationships with other universities and organizations through meetings and visits to conferences.

The center's staff consists of Nowak, two graduate assistants and a secretary. The center and its affiliate student group -- Students for Non-Violence at Virginia Tech -- are organizing a violence prevention symposium for October 2010 and working to bring other speakers to campus. The center is also developing a minor in peace studies.

Leah Wickham, a graduate assistant and an officer with the student group, said they know they are tackling a lot of projects but don't want to limit themselves.

"We can change the culture of our university. ... We can do all these things, given the opportunity," she said.

While talk of improving school safety has often focused on physical security and counseling since the shootings, Nowak said he is trying to reach out to other communities by addressing school violence at its roots. The center has applied for grants to work with at-risk students in Roanoke and Southside Virginia. He said he hopes that the center can use students from all disciplines to reach out to youngsters and engage them in work they enjoy. He said giving hope and purpose to young people will create happier and safer school environments in the future.

"We want to target the foundation of the violence," Nowak said. "We have to build on that. We have to go as early as, probably, kindergarten."