Plans Unveiled for Mt. Carmel and York Hill Student Centers

On Feb. 2, Quinnipiac University Associate Vice President for Facilities Administration, Joseph Rubertone, announced the design plans for the construction of the student centers.

Construction is slated to occur on the Mount Carmel campus' Carl Hansen Student Center as well as the York Hill campus' brand new Rocky Top Student Center.

The first floor of the improved Mt. Carmel Student Center will contain a new media center, activity rooms and offices for 18 organizations. The second floor will boast a "multi-purpose room." This room is designed to hold a capacity of 150 people, making it larger than the University's Mancheski Seminar Room in the School of Business.

The upper area of the student center will remain the location for many student offices including the Student Government Association and Quinnipiac University after Dark (QUAD). One of the most anticipated additions will be a game room for students and organizations to use.

Plans to revamp the student center also include renovations to the Alumni Hall lounge area, complete with a centralized fireplace and skylight.

The bookstore will remain the same on both the first and second floors.

According to Rubertone, the Carl Hansen Student Center should be "in the ground" by July 1, and he approximates the building will be finished in September 2011.

"Now that's ambitious, but it's doable" Rubertone said. "Next year there will [have to] be inconveniences."

Some of these inconveniences will include zero access to Alumni Hall during the construction. Student organizations will instead be forced to move their activities to Burt Kahn Court in the Athletic Center.

In addition, the ever-developing York Hill campus is expected to be home to the new Rocky Top Student Center by August 2010.

Rocky Top will house York Hill's security center, a health center and a boiler plant on the underground first floor. The ground level floor will have a dining hall and post office. Special features will include a fireplace and a grand lobby, complete with a grandiose staircase leading to the third floor. The third floor will include an activity center, complete with yoga and spinning rooms. The top floor of Rocky Top will be a storage area.

Aside from the construction at the student centers, the Echlin School of Health Sciences will also see some renovations. The Financial Aid and Admissions offices will be moving from the library steps to the first floor of Echlin. Renovations to the second floor will include revamping the faculty offices and making the crowded double offices into individual spaces.