Renovation begins on student center

Michael Miller

whose initials, many have joked, stand for “under construction

indefinitely” -- has started work on one of its most ambitious

renovations to date.

This spring, PCL Construction and the Rossetti design firm started

work on a massive renovation of the UC Irvine Student Center, which

sits across the street from the parking garage on Pereira Drive and

acts as a gateway of sorts to the campus. When the finished structure

opens in 2007, the center will be expanded to a European-style town

square with new restaurants, a marketplace area and a four-story,

169,000-square-foot tower.

“We’re very excited about it,” said Dan Dooros, interim executive

director of student affairs. “It should serve almost all the needs of

clubs and organizations -- when they want to meet, when they want to

conduct business. It will really become a hub of student activity.”

The campus first established its student center in the early

1980s, then completed a renovation in 1990. Since then, the center --

which contains a cluster of shops as well as study and conference

rooms, administrative offices and the Crystal Cove Auditorium -- has

remained largely the same.

In recent years, however, the campus began pushing for a larger

center as the student population rapidly grew. After UCI students

voted in an April 2001 referendum to increase student fees to pay for

the construction, university officials held a limited design-build

competition to lure contractors. Rossetti and PCL, who proposed a

piazza design with a central courtyard, won the $53 million project.

With the student center currently closed, much of UCI’s student

life has gravitated to other parts of campus. However, many students,

as well as workers in nearby shops, are welcoming the renovations.

“The student center is very important for this place,” said

Armando Rinales, who works behind the counter at the neighboring

Cornerstone Cafe. “I’ve worked here 14 years and they haven’t changed

anything.”

Dooros said the student center’s old food court, which housed four

takeout restaurants as well as the Anteater Pub, will expand into an

east and west side. A number of campus organizations, including

student government, health education and the dean of students, will

also have new offices in the renovated center.

When the center reopens, students will pay an additional $89 per

quarter as part of their registration fees to help cover the

construction costs.

Audrey DeVore, the associate director of the Campuswide Honors

Program, said the new center is well worth the time and costs. Every

spring, the honors program hosts its research symposium, in which

students report on their senior essay projects, in the center’s

conference rooms.

“I’m looking forward to having a larger student center that can

accommodate more programs and club meetings,” DeVore said. “This

current student center is too small for the present, let alone the

future.”

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at [email protected].