Construction began in mid-March on a new student union and recreation center at Arkansas Tech University (ATU) in Russellville, the continuation of a process that was set into motion almost a decade ago.
"When I interviewed back in 2014, the students made it very clear to me that they wanted a union and recreation center," said Robin E. Bowen, president of ATU, during the project's groundbreaking ceremony. "That was reiterated to me once I was hired into the position. It was no surprise to me that when we created the primary plan for facilities during the 2016-17 academic year, the union and recreation center emerged as a priority project.
"Quality of place is defined as all of those features of physical environment and qualities of life that make a location a desirable, competitive, and economically vibrant place to live," Bowen continued. "As we continue to evolve as a society, quality of place has emerged as one of the most important factors in where people choose to live, work and, yes, attend college."
The plan for ATU's new student union and recreation center is to give students space for a campus living room/lounge, outdoor recreation, room for individual and group fitness activities, student organizations, a food service, a convenience store/spirit shop, multi-purpose meeting rooms, two basketball courts, a multi-activity court, a café and event space at multiple scales.
"The student union and recreation center will show current and future students that we are invested in developing them as both students and people," explained Len Cotton, of Dardanelle, and vice chair of the ATU Board of Trustees. "This facility will facilitate greater overall wellness for the entire ATU community, enhance the connectedness of our university, help us recruit and retain students, and contribute to fulfilling the mission and vision of Arkansas Tech University."
New Facility to Replace Demolished Student Center
Miller Boskus Lack of Fayetteville, Ark., was selected in 2019 by the ATU trustees as the lead architecture firm in the development of plans for the project. Additionally, designers from the Dallas office of SmithGroup have aided in planning the facility.
Just this past December, Little Rock-based Kinco Constructors was chosen as the project's construction manager at risk during an ATU Board of Trustees meeting.
Site work at the campus is projected to begin in June with construction scheduled to begin in earnest later in 2023. The grand opening for the ATU student union and recreation center is estimated to be between June and August of 2025.
The new facility will be built on the parcel of land previously occupied by the former W.O. Young Student Center, which was demolished over the winter.
"Today is a turning point in building the sense of community at Arkansas Tech that so many of our students crave," noted Paula Gonzalez Prado, an ATU senior from Maracaibo, Venezuela, and a member of the committee that has helped plan the forthcoming facility. "We enrolled in college to learn and develop skills for our respective careers, but we also came here to build friendships and a network that will benefit us professionally and personally for the remainder of our lives.
"There has simply never been a facility at Arkansas Tech that makes those connections possible like the [proposed] student union and recreation center that will soon be constructed on our campus," she continued. "There, we will build upon the long and proud tradition of the [previous] student center and create even greater connections in a facility that will engage our interests and help reveal our path forward."
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