Alumni Hall will be no more after renovations in the Carl Hansen Student Center will replace the northern-most corner of the building with a student lounge, Associate Vice President for Facilities Administration Joe Rubertone told students at the SGA forum in the Mancheski Executive Seminar Room last Tuesday.

Without Alumni Hall, a space used nearly every weekend for student events, Burt Kahn Court in the Recreation Center will become the new home for events on the Mount Carmel campus. According to Rubertone, some of the bleachers will likely be removed to give the court less of a “gym feel.”

Construction in the Student Center is expected to begin this summer and continue throughout the 2010-11 academic year. During construction,  meetings spaces SC 207, SC 117B and the study lounge will be out of commission.

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“There will be some significant growing pains,” said Daniel Brown, director of the Student Center and Student Leadership Development. “But when it’s all said and done, the Mount Carmel Student Center will accomodate students much better.”

According to Brown, a more suitable suite for Greek life and additional space for student organizations will highlight the new Student Center. Louis Venturelli, Student Government Association president, was equally pleased with the final blueprints.

“We went in thinking functionality over aesthetics,” said Venturelli, who was involved with the new plans since initial meetings with architects. “We want every inch of the new Student Center to be functional.”

Taking place of Alumni Hall will be a two-story student lounge, complete with fireplace. During the SGA forum, Rubertone gave students a 3-D Quicktime tour of the planned lounge, which would have space to showcase performers and student events.

The lounge will be a welcome addition, Brown said, to a building where the largest amount of students are often found in the first-floor study lounge.

“There’s nowhere to hang out right now,” he said. “The Student Center should be the living room of the campus, but there’s no way to do that right now.”

According to Rubertone, the scheduled completion date in September 2011 is “ambitious, but doable.”

Photo credit: Joe Pelletier