Student Center groundbreaking set for April 30

  Wednesday, April 23, 2014 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

In 2039, Pittsburg State Students will open a time capsule and get a picture of what life was like on campus today. Filling that time capsule will be one of the tasks at a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, April 30, to kick off a major expansion and renovation of the Overman Student Center at PSU. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on the east side of the student center.

PSU students voted in 2012 to support the project, which is expected to cost nearly $16 million. Of that, about $14 million is funded through student fees.

The project, which is expected to be completed in the summer of 2015, will significantly change the student center, which was first dedicated in 1951. Additions were constructed in 1963 and 1995 and food service area renovations were completed in 2002.

University officials described the student center as “the heartbeat” of the campus, where students meet to eat, study, attend meetings and enjoy entertainment. They can shop at the Gorilla Bookstore, do their banking or meet their friends to visit or study in one of the student lounges.

The expansion and renovation will address a number of the current building’s deficiencies. A new addition to the east will increase the area for student dining, accommodate a new student activities complex, and provide additional student lounge areas. The project will create a much larger, column-free ballroom to accommodate large events or three smaller events occurring simultaneously.

Currently, the student center hosts more than 5,000 meetings and events each year and numerous requests for space are denied because of a shortage of space. The addition and renovation will increase the number of meeting and multi-purpose rooms and will improve the traffic flow on the second floor.

Overman Student Center Director Jeff Steinmiller said the project may be an inconvenience for students and other users of the building, but when finished, will dramatically improve the way the building serves students and the public.

For more information, visit the Overman Student Center web page at www.pittstate.edu/info/student-center/