Campus Connection

New student union to open in spring 2017

Construction of UWL’s new student union is on schedule with plans for major contractors to hand over the keys Sept. 28. In October and November furniture will be moved into the new facility and doors will open early spring semester 2017. Construction started at the corner of East Avenue and Farwell Street in fall 2014. The four-story, $55 million building is paid for by student fees. In April 2012 students voted to build a new student center instead of making needed repairs to Cartwright Center, the current student center, which was built in the 1950s. Construction of the new facility for student socialization, recreation, studying and more is about 80 percent complete, according to Wayne Holum, a CD Smith foreman. “This is crazy. It went up so quickly, and it’s beautiful,” says Camille Walter, a UWL senior who toured the facility this week. “I’ll see it my last semester here and that’s exciting.”

Bigger and better

The more than 200,000 square foot student center is about 66,000 square feet larger than Cartwright Center. Rooms inside the center will accommodate UWL's growing population. The new facility’s multi-purpose room is 17,300 square feet with seating capacity for 1,200. That is 40 percent larger than Cartwright’s main performance and event venue — Valhalla. An entertainment cafe, which will provide space for programming similar to The Cellar, is also larger. It is located in the lower level of the new student union with the ceiling opening to a first floor balcony above the stage. In addition to larger, architecturally interesting spaces for events and entertainment, the union has other new features such as:

• Meeting rooms, which include large windows with views of Grandad Bluff
• Four fireplaces
• Three patios
• A recreation area with an entrance that spells “PLAY”
• A theatre designed primarily for film screenings that seats 220
• Lower level dining area with gas fire pizza oven
• Outdoor gas fire pit
• Outdoor rain gardens

The new student union will also house:

• Student Senate chambers
• Student organization offices
• Student lounges
• Admissions
• Textbook rental
• University Bookstore
• Grab-and-go food
• Food service/dining areas
• Einstein’s Coffee shop
• Meeting rooms
• Private dining rooms
• Offices
• Family room
• Fourth floor penthouse (to house building equipment only)

Good to nature, inspired by nature

[caption id="attachment_46252" align="alignright" width="330"] Columns on the first floor of the new student union are designed to look like giant tree trunks.[/caption] The new student center project is designed to be sustainable and energy-efficient to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standard equivalency. Not only is the facility good to the environment, it is inspired by it. Architects incorporated design elements from La Crosse’s natural surroundings — bluffs, river and marshland — into both the interior and exterior design. The façade of the building emulates Grandad Bluff, the sandstone bluff to the university’s east. The three main entrances to the facility all lead to a central Information Counter — reflecting the convergence of three rivers in La Crosse. A natural stone covers the elevator shaft, which is made with stone from Winona, Minnesota. Carpeting in the third floor meeting room will look like grass and large columns on the first floor will be stained brown and are shaped to look like giant tree trunks. “I’m excited. It’s been a good process,” says Larry Ringgenberg, director of University Centers. “We’ve had some outstanding student leaders who put their stamp on the building.”