New AU student union nears completion

Representatives of student organizations that weren't around when the current Auburn University student union was built are eagerly waiting as the grand opening for a new student union rapidly approaches.

"We, as the campus television station, are so excited because when the current student union was built, Eagle Eye wasn't around," said Melissa Johnson, a senior majoring in radio, television and film and the current Eagle Eye station manager.

Because of this, the Eagle Eye station office is currently located in a storage closet. The new studio in the new student center will cater to their needs and provide all the right space and equipment.

"To have a space that was designed for us is going to be great," Johnson said.

The new student union, located next to Haley Center across from Jordan-Hare football stadium, will officially open Nov. 5. The estimated $50 million, 182,000-square-foot facility will contain meeting rooms, study areas, lounges, offices and numerous food vendors.

The state-of-the-art facility will be a place for students to pass their time between classes, and meeting rooms will allow privacy and comfort for their organizations. The architect is MHTN Architects out of Salt Lake City.

According to Corey Edwards, the program adviser for the Student Government Association, all the current publications and organizations currently housed in Foy Student Union will move to the new building.

"One plus will be that all the 300-plus student organizations will have mailboxes (in the new student center), and work space for them to use as well," Edwards said.

Groundbreaking was delayed because of disagreements about the location, but ground was finally broken for the building on May 1, 2006, and all construction will cease in less than two months.

"I know that having to walk a little further around construction zones is worth it in the end," said Johnson. "I think (the outcome) will be something that will be better for the students now, and it will also help in recruiting students here in the future as well."

The student body voted in April of 1999 to replace Foy Student Union, which was built in 1954. They realized they had outgrown Foy Student Union, which was built to accommodate the 7,000 students enrolled at the time.

In 1999, 78 percent of the student body at that time voted to increase their tuition by $5 annually for the next 10 years, and $10 for five consecutive years after that, to help raise funds for a new student union.

At the groundbreaking ceremony in 2006, the former dean of students, 90-year-old James E. Foy, let out a spirited War Eagle while cutting the cake. Although the new student center has no name yet, the old student union will still bear Foy's name.

The old union will be kept as a "research building" where classrooms and offices will be housed while their buildings are undergoing construction.

Although the union's interior will not be complete, staff and organizations will be able to move in at the beginning of the fall semester. In addition, not all the dining venues will be complete.

When the university switched dining companies, "some of the dining venues in the new student center had to be changed," Edwards said.

Along with dining venues and offices, one important area of the student center is still in progress—a memorial to students who passed away while they were enrolled at AU.

"Auburn has no memorial representing students who have passed," Edwards said. "Students made a presentation to SGA at the end of the spring semester with this idea of a memorial."

The idea is currently a work in progress, but a committee is getting the specifics down.

"It will have names of individual students, and there may be a kiosk on the side where you can find out more about each student," Edwards said.

The memorial will date back to the first semester in which the fee was assessed for the building. It will be a continuing memorial, able to add names as needed.

"Student leaders from all the student activity programs at the time worked with architects to tell them what type of space would work best for their organizations," Johnson said.