Upchurch University Center opened its doors to campus on Oct. 17 at 11 a.m., per Tim Pierson, vice president for student affairs at Longwood University.
“Well, we had a little countdown,” Pierson said. “Josh Darst (president of the SGA), Susan Sullivan and myself had the ten, nine, eight, seven countdown by the front doors there and then we opened them. It was pretty neat seeing students so excited about coming through the building. I will say the most exciting area seemed to be the food court downstairs.”
Upchurch University Center is almost completely done, with a few “punch-list items” left, per Kim Bass, deputy director for capital design and construction at Longwood University.
“I have one exclusion to the occupancy permit; there’s a small corner stage on the first floor, northeast corner,” Bass said. “It’s part of a little area we’re calling Cabaret.”
Per Bass, the area is not open yet because of a missing handicap ramp. The stage is six inches off the ground, and the ramp does not reach it yet. Bass hopes to have the ramp fixed within the next week. Additionally, some AV equipment is still being installed in the building.
Per Sullivan, offices and organizations with spaces in the building were moved the week before and the week of the opening. The date of the opening had to shift back about a month to allow for furniture delivery and food service training.
“It was originally probably a month prior…a lot of it was just based on when furniture was being delivered in the building,” Sullivan said. “It was always going to early fall; this was just early to mid fall.”
Per Pierson, all meeting rooms, offices and dining options are now open. The building has three dining facilities on the first floor and a Starbucks on the second floor.
“Those are new options that we have not had before,” Pierson said. “Au Bon Pan is a little different and FarmGrill I think is going to be fun, but Panda (Express) was real excitement and for some reason other having a full Starbucks on campus seems to say something different.”
Per Sullivan, there are meal exchange options available at FarmGrill.
The grand opening will be on Oct. 26, according to Sullivan with major donors including Mrs. Upchurch and Mrs. Soza present.
“One of the differences between the 17th and the 26th, the 26th it’s going to be more of an event,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to have an outdoor picnic on the grass, that’ll be from eleven to one p.m. on the grass. We’ll have music, hopefully, some actives, a photo booth, some festivities.”
There will be a ribbon cutting with the donors present, per Sullivan.
“The actual ribbon cutting is going to be at 1:15. p.m.,” said Sullivan.
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