VP of Student Life gives update on student center construction

The Student Center construction has an undated completion date of November 2019, with the actual opening set for spring 2020.

Vanguard announced its Imagine Campaign and the construction of the new student center last spring, with a projected completion in August 2019, according to an interview with Vice President of Student Affairs Tim Young with The Voice last fall. 

This shift was because of the need to have one cafeteria open on campus at a time, with the new café set to be completed spring 2020, according to Young.

Though students have speculated about issues concerning funding and permits holding up the progress, Young assured students the changes do not mean the project is not on track.

“Those delays have not impacted our end date. Our end date of Nov. 2019 is what it would have been according to the master plan, so we’re tracking it every week,” Young said. “The [project manager] and I meet in the city every morning at 7:30 am to look over permits.”

Young explained some delays occur naturally as more is learned as the construction process continues. As they began excavating in the parking lot, they found layers of concrete pads under the asphalt, a water line they had to reroute as well as gas pipes that they had to replace since the materials it was made with are no longer legal in California. These unexpected developments cost money and time to fix before they could begin starting the foundation.

Though unexpected, Young had a positive outlook on the way the construction has unfolded.

“It’s kind of like archaeology, finding the history of Vanguard,” Young said.

Due to the age of campus, new pieces of the campus’ history are unearthed as construction progresses. They must account for these to ensure the building process is going by safely.

As for the blue fences and detours between Needham and the Natural Sciences buildings, Young is hopeful that they will not be a issue for too much longer.

“We’re [tentatively] hoping that fence, the pathway between Huntington and Heath, will be open in October,” Young said. “It really has to do with construction timelines, we have literally discovered lots of things while excavating.”

Young hopes to be able to give the students a more thorough update on construction in the next six months when the actual building starts going up and students can see the progress with their own eyes.