See the latest construction updates on YouTube
Construction on the new University of Louisiana at Lafayette Student Union is unfolding on schedule, with work expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The renovation and expansion of the building, which began in late 2012, is about 55 percent finished, said Bill Crist, UL Lafayette’s director of Facilities Management. The project involves new construction and the renovation of University bookstore, the main ballroom and Bayou Bijou theater.
Once finished, the new facility will have about 178,000 square feet, or 55,000 square feet more than the former structure.
The new two-story building will be fronted with brick arches outside the main entrance, which faces McKinley Street. It will house Canebrake Cafeteria, meeting and conference rooms, offices, a post office and a coffee shop.
“The Student Union will again be the heartbeat of campus, an area that students and employees will gravitate to,” said Joey Pons, UL Lafayette’s director of Public Safety and Risk Management, who gave a tour of it recently.
The cafeteria will spread across most of the second floor. Diners will have a view of Cypress Lake through a bank of windows.
The expanded and renovated building will be farther from Cypress Lake than the original Union. A landscaped courtyard with seating will fill the intervening space.
The $39 million project is funded by students. About 10 years ago, the student body approved a $55 fee per semester that was dedicated to a new Student Union. In, 2005, they approved an additional $20 semester fee for it.