New student center nears completion
The building will also be named today.
Nov. 18, 2008
Senior Lea Crawford looks on during a tour of the new Student Center on Friday. Construction is slated for completion in January.
Student Life Director Mark Lucas led student groups on a tour of the new student center on Friday.
The building is scheduled to complete construction in January. After subcontractors fully furnish the building, phase one will be complete. The basement, which will be home to Tiger Tech, Early Bird Registration, textbooks and the Student ID office, is much further along than the upper two floors that will house the bookstore and student organizations.
The new building has a variety of improved features that Brady Commons didn't offer. Closets and cubbies line the walls, and there is more workspace for student organizations.
In addition to conference rooms, there's also an auditorium in the new student center. It seats 122 people and has Ethernet access and outlets for laptops. Students should be able to reserve the auditorium in February or March. Lucas said there is also a possibility of the auditorium being used for morning classes during Fall 2009, but since it's primarily a student space, any classes scheduled there won't conflict with the needs of organizations.
Organizations will also share large workstations, which are to be placed near cubicles.
"Everyone has prime real estate. It's store-front property wherever you go because of the circulation pattern," Lucas said about the location of each office and cubicle.
The Rollins Street entrance will be the main entrance to the building. The phase one building will temporarily offer the dining services students need during the reconstruction of Brady Commons. Campus Dining Services director Juliane Kiehn said the new space is similar in size to the inside of Brady's food court and will offer similar food, but with MU-designed retail instead of outside brands. After the new bookstore opens on Jan. 5, the temporary dining area for the new student center will open on Jan. 12.
The space is similar to Brady Food Court. The kitchen is permanent, but the service area is temporary, so space is tight. What will be the service area for phase one will be a dish room and custodial closet when phase two is complete.
"We have plenty of room to prepare, but our service space is a bit limited," said Kiehn.
To combat the problems construction could cause, CDS will also open a service trailer near Brady Fountain. Petersen said they plan to call it the Lunch Box and establish operational hours around 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Lunch Box will help serve students on that side of the building who would otherwise have to walk around the construction fencing to get something to eat. Food served will be similar to those found inside the new student center. Like the temporary service area inside, the Lunch Box is designed for quick service.
Since space is limited, CDS decided to focus the menu with fewer options, but will rotate a couple items for variety and product testing. Petersen said they want to work on "perfecting and establishing identities for the new building."
To do this they will rotate some items at semester such as doing a deli sandwich vendor one semester and a deli wrap vendor the next. Some items will go seasonally as well. Soups will be sold during cold months and smoothies will be sold during warmer months.
Correction: This report incorrectly stated MU would name the new student center Tuesday. The food court was scheduled to be named. (Added 4:12 p.m., November 19, 2008)
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