Set to open in fall 2018, the Upchurch University Center is 75 percent complete according to Kim Bass, deputy director for capital design and construction and the project manager for Upchurch University Center.
According to Susan Sullivan, director of the university center and student activities, the school hopes “to open between mid-September (and) mid-October.”
The building will be home to dining services, student clubs and organizations and meeting spaces, according to Bass.
“The bottom floor is mostly food service. So we’ve got three food vendors. We’ve got Panda Express, Farmville Grill, Au Bon Pan,” she said. “It’ll be mostly eatery, food service, and lounge space. We do have the gaming center space and then the pool table.”
Bass said the cafeteria area is not formally named. According to Grant Avent, general manager of Longwood university dining services, the hours for the food vendors have not been determined yet.
Avent said the Farmville Grill is a concept unique to Longwood.
“We wanted to have at least one concept not affiliated with a national brand, so we could more easily manage the menu around the needs and requests of the campus community,” said Avent.
Greens to Go, currently in the Lankford Student Union, will move into the lower level of Dorrill Dining Hall, where Outta Here is located.
According Avent, the new businesses will create more jobs with dining services.
“At this point, we are estimating the need to hire around 30 additional associates,” said Avent.
On the second floor is the large multipurpose room with pre-event space and student lounge, according to Bass.
“We’re not calling it a commuter lounge,” Bass said. “There’s a lounge for everybody.”
There will also be offices spaces in the building for various offices relating to student life, according to Bass.
According to Gary Honickel, assistant director of student clubs and organizations, “all departments under the Student Engagement umbrella will move into the building.”
This includes the Office of Citizen Leadership and Social Justice Education, the dean of student engagement, Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and the university center and student activities. According to Honickel, student organizations including Lancer Productions, The Rotunda and the Student Government Association (SGA) are also moving into office space there.
According to Honickel, there will be locker space available for organizations to use as well.
“The club and organization office in the building will have some locker space for some student organizations,” he said. “We are currently developing a fair and equitable way to disperse those lockers amongst organizations on campus. A solidified plan will be made once we are in the new building.”
According to Honickel, the third floor will have meeting spaces students can reserve, as well as the second floor’s multipurpose room.
“Organizations will be able to reserve all seven bookable meeting rooms,” he said.
According to Honickel, there are other spaces for students as well including “a meditation space on the third floor, the NH Scott Lounge (and) a performance area with a small stage on the first floor near the food vendors."
Bass said there are also small porches on the third floor, the hours of which are still to be determined.
“There’s a small one on the north and a small one on the south,” she said. “The one on the north has a more circular configuration and the one on the south is rectangular.”
According to Bass, the third floor also has a rotunda structure similar to the one in Ruffner Hall.
The hours for the various parts of the building are not yet determined, according to Sullivan.
“There will not be much of a difference from what they are now,” Sullivan said. “We may stay opened later on Friday and Saturday and open a little earlier on Saturday but we are still throwing around ideas.”
According to Bass, the building is making progress toward LEED certification. LEED certifies the level of environmental friendliness that the construction process and the building itself has. Buildings receive certification based on how environmentally friendly the supply line, the construction process and day-to-day functions of buildings are.
“At this point, we’re on target for LEED Gold,” Bass said. LEED Gold is the second-highest rating a building can receive.
According to Bass, almost all of the waste from the demolition of the Cunningham buildings has been diverted. Additionally, some of the floors from the Cunninghams will be used for the floor of the multi-purpose room.
According to Sullivan, the building is paid for by the donor gift and student fees.
“The gift from Mrs. Upchurch and student fees will pay for the project now and over time,” Sullivan said.
