When you're doing a renovation, the first steps just aren't very glamorous.  Usually, there's lots of dust, lots of noise, and lots of stuff that has to come down.  Well, we're in Phase I of the Seay Student Center renovation project, and that's exactly what we have going on now.  The cafeteria is being gutted for the expansion, and the debris are going down a chute on the east side of the building.  Out with the old, as they say. 

The renovated student center will be 14,000 square feet larger, with a new health and fitness center, a new community conference center and a larger cafeteria.

Trustee Hall will complete the "quad" of residence style apartments on campus, and will be built on the east side of the three existing apartments.

The University of the Ozarks held ground-breaking ceremonies on Friday, April 23, for a pair of construction projects --- an expansion and renovation of its student center and a new apartment-style residence hall.

More than 250 students, faculty, staff and Board of Trustee members attended the ceremonies, which were held on the first floor of the Seay Student Center. The $5.1 million price tag for the combined projects will include a 14,000-square-foot addition to the student center as well as the new 6,600-square-foot residence hall, Trustee Hall. The two projects are expected to be completed by the spring of 2011.

The funding for the projects comes from the current $40 million Promise of Excellence Campaign, which has raised more than $38 million from 3,600 donors since its inception in 2006.

“Today’s groundbreaking is possible because of the Promise of Excellence Campaign, a five-year campaign now in its final year,” said Ozarks President Dr. Rick Niece. “A broad purpose for the campaign is to improve our quality of education and, in doing so, to make life better, longer, healthier, and more fulfilling for students, as well as other members of the campus community. The two building projects officially beginning today, with this groundbreaking, perfectly exemplify the purpose of our mission and the theological traditions of our Presbyterian heritage.”

Key elements of the student center improvements include a new health and fitness center, a new community conference center and increased dining capacity for students. Trustee Hall will house 20 students and will be the final complex that will complete a four-hall quad area in the northeast section of campus.

“These projects show the amazing commitment of our donors to this campus,” said Student Government Association President Brett Wood. “They saw what was needed and they made it happen.”

James H. Cone Construction of Little Rock will serve as the general contractor for the two projects. The lead architect was Ken Emanuelson of JKJ Architects in Rogers.