An estimated 50,000 square feet will be added onto the current 97,000 square feet in the Student Union. Construction is expected to begin this summer.
File Photo I The Daily Mississippian
The University of Mississippi announced on Thursday a 4-year, $50 million plan to renovate and expand the Student Union on the Oxford campus. The plans include a larger dining area, new student government offices, including an Associated Student Body Senate chamber, a ballroom, conference space and other amenities, according to a UM press release.
“It’s going to dramatically improve what we can offer our students,” UM Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Leslie Banahan said in the release. “There will be an incredible synergy, a large work space so students can collaborate together, and a dedicated space for students to meet. We’re going to have space to allow us to host a comedian’s performance, or a lecture or a musical act. It’ll be a dedicated area where we can have concerts or step shows. This new renovated and expanded Student Union will become the true heart of the campus.”
Additionally, the existing U.S. Postal Service office in the basement of the Student Union will close permanently June 30 of this year. A new campus mail system will be implemented to replace the current system, and university officials say that mail delivery to offices in academic buildings and students in residence halls will go uninterrupted after the change. It is unclear whether current post office employees will lose their jobs.
The release states that the first floor of Crosby Hall will become “a mail and package center” to accommodate students that live in residence halls.
According to UM Communications Specialist Michael Newsom, the project is still in the initial design stage, and the university will open the contractor bidding process this summer. The plans must still be approved by both the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning and the Mississippi Bureau of Building.
University officials traveled to student unions at Auburn University and Louisiana State University and determined to renovate and expand the existing Ole Miss Student Union instead of building a new one.
The project will be handled in separate phases over four years. According to the release, the existing bookstore and food court inside the Student Union will remain open throughout the construction phases.
