Bulldozers, demolition operators and construction workers will be changing the look of The University of Memphis over the next few years, and many incoming freshmen will be able to see the end result before graduating.
Students can expect to see the current University Center gone by May 2006. Next summer the building will be a slab and a memory as a new one will be built by May 2008.
The new building will be three levels and have seven lounge areas and email stations on each floor. The building will also have new, modernistic colors and an atrium three stories high.
Carolyn Bishop, an 18-year-old incoming freshman, said she is eager to see the new building. An interior design major, she called the change a “cool idea.”
“It will be awesome to see the end result,” Bishop said. “It would look better because it wouldn’t be worn-down looking.”
The new center’s first floor will hold indoor and outdoor eating areas with a game room and restaurant.
To Jay Andersen, director of The University Center, the new building is ideal.
“Students can eat and socialize at the same time,” Andersen said.
Andersen called the new center his “dream” coming true.
Costs of the new building will come from student fees. Beginning this fall, an additional $35 will be added per semester per student. Also, students will get to name the new building by voting on what to call it.
“I don’t mind paying for the building,” Bishop said. “The cost doesn’t seem that bad.”
The first floor of the new center will also have four retail spaces that could be anything from a coffee bar to a general store. This floor will also have a 350-seat theater to help with guest speakers and campus meetings.
“The theater will have a smaller stage and will help to compliment The Rose Theatre,” Andersen said. The second floor will have a student activities arena that can be used by student organizations.
“The space will be available to Greek Organizations, BSA, SGA, SAC and minority affairs,” Andersen said. “Everyone can meet together with a common reception area.”
The new arena will make it easier to conduct meetings in a “round table style.” Along with this room, the new building will also house 12 meeting rooms, a multi-purpose room and an outdoor deck.
The third floor of the building will have additional meeting space and exhibit space. There will also be a new ballroom that can be divided into three sections, seating 600 — 1,200 people with tables or chairs.
“The building will also have glass all around with floor-to-ceiling windows that will be tinted,” Andersen said. “Students will be able to see in and out, not like the fort we have now.”
According to Andersen, to renovate the current UC would cost an estimated $22 million.
“With all the work needed to be done...the mechanical, the electrical and the restrooms...the walls are going...a new building just makes more sense,” he said.
While other locations were considered, Andersen said the final decision was to stay on the same site.
“We all felt this was the best place, with all the amenities surrounding it,” Andersen said. “It (this location) blends with the campus, with the students.”
The tearing down and building will mean current offices and services will be dispersed around the campus.
“All services (within the UC) will be moving to Wilder Tower floors eight through 10,” Andersen said.
The UC staff and food services will be moved to the Panhellenic Building on Patterson.
“We will be creating a mini-union with 10 meeting rooms and a small ballroom,” he said.
To Andersen and other faculty, the change may be minor. However, to students the change may seem confusing.
“It will be annoying. All the new people will be learning new things,” Bishop said. “Then we will have to learn it all over again.”
For instance, the Panhellenic services, such as sorority activities, will be held in the new Living Learning Centers that are currently being built in the Carpenter Complex.
The services in the basement, such as the post office and lockers, will be moved up within the new building, Andersen said. The new building will have a more “modernistic approach,” compared to the current UC.
“I personally can’t wait until 2008 to see the end result,” Bishop said.
