( CNN ) -- Kristina Heeger was wounded in her French class nearly two years ago when a gunman killed 30 of her classmates and instructors at Virginia Tech 's Norris Hall . Students walk through a passageway connecting Norris Hall to another building at Virginia Tech . Still coping with memories of the massacre , she returned to the historic stone building Friday as the university reopened the wing of the academic building where the deadliest mass shooting in recent U.S. history occurred . `` It 's still something I deal with every day , '' Heeger told reporters during a tour of the newly refurbished west wing of Norris Hall 's second floor , where visitors took in the gleaming , contemporary space . `` We 're still grieving , we 're still mourning , '' she said . `` But we are coming together in a very strong , powerful way . We are coming together to move forward . '' The renovation after the April 16 , 2007 , shooting created six rooms and laboratories for the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics , university officials said . The 4,300-square-foot area will also house the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention , which relocated to the building . The center hopes to `` develop transdisciplinary programs that target prevention of violence through research , education and engagement , '' said Jerzy Nowak , founding director of the center . `` Relocation to Norris Hall has a symbolic character to the families and friends of the victims , to the survivors , Virginia Tech , the Blacksburg community , and the world , '' he said . Nowak 's wife , French instructor Jocelyne Couture-Nowak , was among the 30 students and faculty members Seung-Hui Chokilled at Norris Hall before taking his own life there . Earlier in the day , the student gunman killed two students at a dorm . Ishwar Puri , head of the engineering department , was at Norris Hall Friday , stressing the importance of the campus moving past the tragedy . `` I was defeated on April 16 , 2007 , by the suicide-assassin , '' Puri told CNN affiliate WDBJ . `` But I pledged to myself he would not defeat me ever again . ''
About two years after mass shooting , university demolished the site . 30 students , faculty members died in Norris Hall after gunman shot two in dorm . The shooter , Seung - Hui Kim , shot himself in Norris Hall after firing spree . The building now includes the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention .