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To Build a More Perfect Union Following a trend, Carolina gives its gathering place a facelift
Visitors to Chapel Hill in recent years have been greeted with a bevy of orange pylons and construction notices signaling campus improvements; now, alumni will be greeted with perhaps the most jarring jumble yet.
An addition and renovation to UNC's Frank Porter Graham Student Union finally began in June, after more than five years of planning and several delays. Construction workers have finished demolishing Union Circle, ripping up the asphalt and brick sidewalk, as well as the heavily traveled steps leading up to the Pit. The excavation and foundation work for the new addition is just beginning and is expected to end next summer. Then a second phase will kick in, a one-year renovation of the existing union beginning with the top and bottom floors, followed by the main floor. In less than two years, Carolina will have a new Student Union. Don Luse, director of the union, said Carolina's hub of student life was built in 1968 to serve about 200 student groups; the school now boasts 465 organizations and is having to turn away many groups because of a lack of meeting space. "We really need to expand services for student organizations, and we're doing that dramatically." Just how dramatically remains to be seen, but the plans call for 40,000 additional square feet to be added to the existing 120,000-square-foot union. The new addition will house three times the amount of existing student office space along with more meeting rooms, lounge areas, a 24-hour computer lab and copy center, and study areas with laptop computer connections. UNC joins a number of schools across the country that currently are renovating their student unions. "It's happened for the last few years just everywhere—an explosion," Luse said. "In the late '50s, unions were funded by bonds and a tremendous amount were constructed. That means those buildings are 40 years old"—and finding themselves unable to keep pace with the demands of a growing student population. Northwestern is still raising money for a $25 million renovation and addition scheduled to begin next year to its Norris University Center, which hosts 14,000 scheduled activities each year—but also has to nix a couple of hundred requests each week. "We're having to turn down so many groups and are bursting at the seams for space," said Bill Johnston, director of the center that serves a student population of 11,000. Office and meeting space for students also was a concern at Penn State, whose newly renovated HUB Robeson Center opened this year after a $34 million project. Anchored by a sunlit glass atrium that brightens what was a cave-like construct, the new building resembles a mall and includes additional lounge areas and a new auditorium to accommodate Penn State's 40,000 students. The University of Arizona, with 35,000 students, is spending upward of $60 million on a renovation to its student union. While UNC's project, carrying a $10 million price tag for renovations and another $3 million for additions, may seem modest compared to Arizona, Penn State or even Northwestern, Luse said it probably was about average for a school with UNC's 24,000-student population. "It's a heavily used facility on campus," Luse said. "It's got to be sturdy and work, not a high-end conference room kind of thing, but very versatile and withstand use." Carolina is depending on students to fund most of the union renovation. Seventy percent of UNC students voted in favor of an increase in student fees to support the project, and a campaign is ongoing with current students and recent graduates to raise donations. In return, the donors would be recognized with an inscription somewhere in the new building, although Luse said exactly where had not yet been decided. And, as at Penn State, some individuals have made private donations to help fund UNC's renovation project. The Class of 2000 gave $32,000 to the renovation project as its senior class gift and will be recognized with a plaque and room named for it. With the overwhelming student support for Carolina's union renovation and addition, along with the popularity of the Student Union and the growing number of student groups it houses, the two-year construction project, while blocking one of the campus' main walking arteries and parking areas, seems to be a must. "It has nothing to do with rankings or keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak," Luse said. "We're just serving the needs of the community that we're supposed to." * —
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