Syracuse University held a ceremony on Tuesday to reveal its latest plans for the upcoming major renovations to Schine Student Center.

Renovations are expected to begin in May, shortly after Commencement. Chancellor Kent Syverud said at the ceremony that the renovations will devote an additional 8,600 square feet of Schine to student activities. The new center will also include an event space and an outdoor terrace, he said.

Schine first opened in 1985, creating a “living room” for SU’s campus and students, said Dolan Evanovich, senior vice president for enrollment and the student experience. The Crowns’ advocacy and support back then is what allowed the center to open, he said.

Evanovich and Renée Schine Crown, a member emerita of SU’s Board of Trustees, unveiled the planned rendering for the atrium at the end of the ceremony.

“The Crowns have been such an active part in reimagining the Schine Student Center to serve all our students and all our students’ needs,” Syverud said.

Evanovich, after the ceremony, said the renovated building will be a central location for students to come together. Students have said that such a place has been missing from SU, he said.

He said that the university met with more than 1,500 students to discuss the renovations.  The No. 1 change students asked for was improvements in dining service, and Schine will have more “contemporary” food options after renovations, he added.

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“This was really a great model of student engagement to really help shape what this place is going to look like in the future,” Evanovich said.

The center will have open space for informal meetings and small study groups, as well as work spaces for registered student organizations, Evanovich said.

Other renovations include the installation of accessible pathways, versatile spaces and seating and an expanded atrium, according to an April SU News release. Joseph Alfieri, director of SU’s Campus Planning, Design and Construction, said at a town hall in March that the roof above the atrium will be demolished, and 80% of Schine’s middle area will be closed during construction.

The center’s bookstore will remain open during construction, Alfieri said.

During her speech at the ceremony, Student Association President Ghufran Salih said that SA met with SU senior leaders, architects and students to discuss Schine renovations. Salih also expressed gratitude toward Crown and her husband, Lester, for their work to improve student life on campus.

“As someone who spends a lot of time in this building … I know that many of us consider this place home,” Salih said.

Bee Poshek, a senior in the School of Education, attended a presentation in Schine earlier this year during which students were able to give feedback on design renderings by placing their comments on sticky notes. Poshek said the renderings revealed Tuesday had not seemed to change much since that presentation.

One concern Poshek said they have is that there was no rendering of the cultural offices — the Disability Cultural Center, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the LGBT Resource Center — that will be moved to the renovated Schine building. Poshek said, as a student, they would like to see the space in which those resources will be located.

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The renovation will position the Disability Cultural Center, Office of Multicultural Affairs and LGBT Resource Center into a centralized space for student activities, per the SU News release.

Nicole Osborne, a research analyst in the Division of Advancement and External Affairs, said she was excited about the more modern design of the space. She said that it may help prospective students to see themselves at SU.

Osborne said the renovations could make potential students excited to attend the university, especially as the updates to Schine coincide with the construction of the Barnes Center at The Arch. Projected to cost $50 million, The Arch is a wellness center that is replacing Archbold Gymnasium. It is expected to be completed in fall 2019.

The changes to Schine were approved by SU’s Board of Trustees at a November 2018 meeting. Renovations to the center are part of the university’s Campus Framework, a 20-year plan for physical campus improvement. SU expects to complete the renovations by August 2020.

“This is about to become a reality,” Syverud said.

Published on April 9, 2019 at 11:41 pm

Contact India: irmiragl@syr.edu