Construction limits student center space

Walls will be installed near Truman's Takeout and the Leadership Lounge.

By Jared Grafman

Published April 6, 2010

Space in the student center's Leadership Lounge has been cut due to a temporary retaining wall constructed before spring break. Student and Auxiliary Services spokeswoman Michelle Froese said the wall would not be removed before the end of this semester.

The wall is meant to keep students out of construction areas while workers finish the final stages of Phase II of the student center.

"The construction wall was put up because the workers are now putting in a glass rail where the original (wall) was," Froese said. "They need access to the area."

Although the wall is temporary in the big picture of student center construction, it will remain in place for several months.

"The wall will be up until Aug. 18, 2010, when Phase II of the student center will open for students," Froese said.

Sophomore Katherine McClain has a class in Chambers Auditorium, which exits into the Leadership Lounge.

"Leadership Lounge looks a lot smaller now, but it's really not that inconvenient," McClain said. "It looks kind of cozier now, because everything is closer together."

The unpainted and impermanent wall has no windows, prohibiting students from looking out the lounge and at construction, which was possible before the wall was installed.

"The workers are working on the balcony area and need access to the area that is now blocked off to students," Froese said.

The Leadership Lounge will not be the only area affected by the retaining wall.

"There will probably be similar effects seen in the University Bookstore, specifically Truman's Takeout and the wall with the magazine racks, where construction and retaining walls will be put up for a temporary time,” Froese said.

The installation of the retaining wall is not the only construction in the Leadership Lounge.

"There is currently construction happening on both sides of Leadership Lounge," Froese said. "Workers are putting up wall coverings around the walls of Chambers Auditorium, and the walls will have names of student leaders from throughout the ages laser printed on them."

Construction on the student center is ahead of MU's first schedule. It was originally scheduled for completion in January 2011, but new estimates place Phase II's opening Aug. 18, 2010.

Student Unions Assistant Director Joe Hayes said the retaining wall in the Leadership Lounge is evidence of the final steps to complete Phase II of the student center.

"It's a big push," Hayes said. "It's a minor inconvenience to students at the moment, but we're excited for the big day when everything opens."