Students and CU administration have mixed feelings about the construction of the new Center for Community building that started this February on Regent Drive.
The construction, adjacent to Hallett Hall and the Leeds School of Business, is being dubbed as the “C4C” and will cost $84.4 million to complete by fall of 2010, according to a press release from Parking and Transportation Services.
Some students are enthused by the project.
“I think it’s great that the university is striving to achieve more diversity in building such a huge space like this,” said Gabrielle Cox, a freshman pre-journalism major.
Once completed, the building will be 323,000 square feet. The upper floors will house 12 vital student services and the lower floors will accommodate the largest on-campus dining hall with its capacity to serve up to 900 people. A two-story underground parking garage will provide additional parking space as well.
Career Services and the Office of International Education are among the core group of student services to be relocated.
The Office of International Education is currently located in the basement level of the Environmental Design building.
“We are very enthusiastic to move,” said Lawrence Bell, director of the Office of International Education. “After being buried in the basement for so long, relocating will get us out to the open. We can be a bigger part of campus then.”
Representatives from student services say the new location will offer organizations a better chance to reach students.
“We’re looking to build communities here on campus with the different organizations that students interact with and also bridging towards the greater community outside of the University of Colorado Boulder,” said Lisa Severy, director of Career Services. “Physically being together, I think, will be phenomenal for the students who can access everything together.”
However, some students said they are irritated by the parking situation near Kittredge.
“Parking’s going to be a problem,” said Stephanie Anderson, a freshman international affairs major. “I didn’t know they closed one of the parking lots.”
Once construction is complete, the C4C could rival the UMC.
“I heard it’s the UMC 2,” said Quinardo Soto, a freshman open-option major.
Students said they could see spending more time in the C4C than in the UMC.
“Who knows? The new building sounds really cool,” Roberts said. “If more of my friends start hanging out there and it has better food than the UMC, I would probably start chilling there, too.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Stephanie Lee at Stephanie.lee-1@colorado.edu.
