Campus Center Expansion

The Campus Center project involves additions to the East and West, a new stairway enclosure in the renovated courtyard, and gut renovation to 46,000-square-feet of the existing building on the ground floor between these two new additions. Buildings in yellow: the new 55,000-square-foot West addition, foreground; stairway enclosure in courtyard; and the new 21,000-square-foot East addition in background.

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 18, 2014) -- Future UAlbany students will have access to a new 400-seat auditorium, a two-level fitness center and enhanced dining facilities with market-style food service venues, as part of a project to expand the University’s Campus Center. While the Campus Center is part of the uptown campus that was designed in the 1960s for a university of 10,000 students, enrollment has grown to more than 17,000 undergraduates and graduate students. Today, the Campus Center remains the hub of student activity, providing many more dining options and nearly 9,000 meals per day. The $62.2 million Campus Center expansion includes a 21,000-square-foot East addition and a 55,000-square-foot West addition. The project begins this summer, with the East addition slated for completion in September 2015 and the West addition in the spring of 2017. The renovation portion of the project will include 46,000-square-feet of renovated space within the existing Campus Center.

East addition: The view from Indian Quad. Completion date: September 2015.

The East addition will contain a double height dining room with associated market style food service venues and a sub-basement catering kitchen served by a new service tunnel and loading dock. The West addition will house a multi-use auditorium, multi-use rehearsal room, student association office suites, a food service venue, two-level fitness center, meditation room, student group resource spaces, and miscellaneous lounges and meeting rooms.

University construction projects are funded by one-time capital dollars, separately appropriated for such work and are not interchangeable with funds dedicated to staff and programs, explained Associate Vice President for Facilities John Giarrusso. The Campus Center project accounts for 15 percent of the $418 million allocated for all capital projects on campus. The lion’s share of that money, 39 percent, is earmarked for construction of UAlbany’s ETEC building, a component of the NYSUNY 2020 initiative.

Cha, Cha, Cha, Changes…

Due to the disruption caused by the Campus Center expansion, the University’s food service provider, University Auxiliary Services (UAS), will be making some improvements and expanding options. The 518 Market, located in the Campus Center, will be upgraded this summer; a new retail food venue, Argo Tea, will be installed through the fall; and the Guy Fieri food truck will be on campus now through the year.

Additionally:

 ·         With construction work starting simultaneously on the East and West additions of the Campus Center, entrances near the exterior staircases from the podium level to the Campus Center will be blocked. Those who normally take this route will want to go through the Education or Physics building instead.

·         The Barnes & Noble Bookstore will be accessible all summer and throughout the duration of the construction.

·         Access to the SEFCU Bank and ATMs will remain the same for the fall 2014 and spring 2015 semesters.

·         Despite the continued construction, the Campus Center Ballroom, the Assembly Hall and Campus Center 375 will remain open. The Terrace Lounge will be closed for the duration.

·         While the Standish Room in the Science Library will remain open and accessible, there may be some changes to classes in that building, and parking along the trees by the Science Library will remain available, but share the road with construction traffic. Parking for the Science Library will be in the Dutch Quad lot. A temporary road for emergency vehicles will open by Dutch Quad, and the bus stop by the Science Library will relocate to the west corner of Dutch Commons.

Any updates regarding the construction schedule and disruption can be found at www.albany.edu/facilities .  

For more news, subscribe to UAlbany's RSS headline feeds