Vincennes Breaks Ground on Student Center

Vincennes University has broken ground on its $4.35 million student center. When complete, the facility will house a technology caf?, gaming lounge and study areas. VINCENNES, Ind. – Ground was broken on Sept. 12 for a new $4.35 million Student Center at Vincennes University.

“This new student center will be a place for people to meet, enjoy each other’s company, and to learn from each other. Students work hard and they need a place to relax,” said Alain Moulari, president of the Student Government Association.

The two-story facility will include a technology caf?, gaming lounge, study areas, multi-function spaces, visual display boards, indoor fireplace, and outdoor seating areas.

“One of the strengths of this project is that we will have the new Student Center, Student Recreation Center, Aquatic Center, and Physical Education Complex under one roof,” said VU President Dick Helton. “This will be a student-centered place to enhance student life.”

While the Student Center will add 20,907 square feet, its impact will be much greater due to its location, according to Phil Rath, vice president for Financial Services and Government Relations. “We are actually going to be pulling in an adjacent multi-purpose room and bowlng alley renovation, so it will actually be about a 60,000 square-foot center. When you walk into the facility, it will look seamless.”

“This is an exciting day for VU. Of all of the hundreds of millions of dollars of projects we have done, this project may be one of the most exciting because it is about what we are going to do for our students, their social life, and interaction – providing a place also for commuter students where they can interact with our residential students,” Rath said.

Mark Michael, Jr., the new student member of the Board of Trustees, said he was proud to cast one of his first trustee votes to construct the facility.

“Student life is important to being a good student. From my own personal experience, I was not very engaged in high school. That is one of the reasons I appreciate VU. When I came here I was able to build who I wanted to be. Having a college life was part of that,” Michael said. A former president of the Student Government Association, Michael said that student life at VU has “helped a lot in the development of my leadership skills and self-confidence.”

Companies awarded contracts for the project are CDI, Inc., Terre Haute,

$2,749,100 for general construction; Wabash Utilities, Vincennes, $219,200 for site preparation; Peyronnin Construction, Evansville, $932,200 for mechanical construction; and HEF Services, Terre Haute, $457,300 for electrical construction. Construction is expected to take 13 to 17 months.

Source: Vincennes University