Renovations underway at McMaster University Student Centre

The majority of students have left campus for the summer, but work is just getting started.

Beginning May 2, parts of the McMaster University Student Centre have become a construction zone. Changes are being made to the food court on the main floor – known as the North Stair -- including the installment of another staircase heading out to the Arts Quad. The west wing of the student centre will see the glass wall moved deeper into Mills Plaza and the doors relocated to create a more usable space near the Starbucks, referred to as the “south expansion.”

Fences have been installed in both areas and construction should be complete by August 16, according to Lori Diamond, MUSC Administrative Director.

Overall, the renovations should add approximately 125 seats to the student centre. The renovations are expected to cost $1.5 million, with funds coming from MUSC reserves.

“When we originally built the building, part of the financial plan for it was, through the student fee, the MSU would collect a building fee to pay down the mortgage,” said Diamond. “In the final year that [the MSU] collected the student fee, they didn’t need all of the money to pay the mortgage. So there was just over a million dollars that was left over. That transferred to the student centre and we put it in our capital fund.”

The excess funds were due in part to an unexpected rise in undergraduate population. Following the double cohort in 2003 caused by the elimination of the OAC year in high school, Ontario universities expected enrolment to drop. This did not happen, and led to a surplus. The money is being reinvested into the student centre.

Why make these changes?

The north stair renovations come after an October 2014 feasibility study that found high levels of congestion and inadequate seating in the area. Adding another staircase is supposed to improve traffic flow in the area.

For Diamond, the south expansion is what will excite students.

“There’s going to be a whole new atmosphere down there. Just by moving the door from close to Starbucks to closer to where you would go down to the bookstore, you take away to whole corridor effect of that space,” said Diamond. “Right now, that space is quite big but you can’t use it for anything but corridor because people come through and stream through that door. By moving [the door] down, it is no longer a corridor, we can make it a lounge.”

Come September, this reimaged space will have furniture and seating for students. Since the wall is being expanded to meet the second-floor windows, the space will be larger too. MUSC anticipates the area to add 75 seats.

Construction is expected to be complete for August 16, and MUSC will move furniture in. Both spaces should be ready for use by Welcome Week 2016.