Sonoma State Star

Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: News

The University Club, pictured above in an artist's rendition, is projected to open in the Spring of 2011. Venues such as the Student Union, Commons, Bookstore and Dining Hall will relocate to the $60 million, environmentally-friendly building.

Sonoma State is now in the process of planning a new campus center called the University Club (UC), which is projected to open in the spring of 2011. The UC will combine the services currently provided by the Commons, Student Union, Zinfandel Dining Hall and the bookstore.

Those features won't be the only ones offered by new building, it would also include a variety of other food choices, retail areas as well as a mail and copy center. A concert hall, which will double as a grand ballroom will also fit into the equation.

"[It will be] a hub of campus life, a place to be when you're not in class," said Erik Dickson, Associated Students Executive Director.

The UC is designed to centralize campus life, and with the concert hall, attempt to draw in popular performers. It will be located in the large currently open area between the Library, Boiler Plant and Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Grove.

Many might wonder where funding for a $60 million comprehensive project would come from. The current financial crisis, as well as the CSU being constrained to the same budget as the previous year but with more students to serve present formidable challenges for the project to overcome.

However, the UC is being funded with no state sourced money. This means that student fees are not what are being used to finance this project.

Instead four on campus entities: Sonoma State Enterprises (SSE), Housing Services, Associated Students Incorporated (ASI), and Sonoma Student Union Corporation (SSUC) are providing the money to complete the project.

They plan to go into the project fully funded and planned; measures Dickson says will minimize or eliminate the possibility of budget overruns.

The new building will consist of three floors, with the first containing the retail and dining areas as well as the mail/copy center.

By combining the residential and non residential dining areas on the first floor both residents and non residents will have a chance to eat together, which Dickson believes will make the campus a more cohesive and connected society.

Continued...

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