The students, faculty and staff of WPI have been quite aware for a long time that WPI is about to have a Campus Center. This building will serve the entire community of WPI, not just the student body. The groundbreaking for the Campus Center will be at 11 a.m. on October 29, 1999. At that point the planning and design that began in 1993 will slowly become reality.
The Campus Center project will cost 17 million dollars. This building will be 68,000 square feet, and will sit behind the Alumni Gymnasium. The location of the Campus Center will allow it to have easy access from both the Quad and West Street. The building has been designed by the firm Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson, and Abbott. This Boston architecture firm has designed buildings with similar functions for Bucknell University and Lafayette College. The fund raising for this project is part of a larger fund raising effort, the Campaign for WPI.
The new Campus Center will be three floors, with two floors visible from West Street and the Quad. The ground floor, also known as the Garden Level, will only be visible from the side that Higgins House faces. The ground floor will have the new mail facility, a game area, and a new dining area for the students on campus. This dining area will be called Profiles in Good Taste, and will feature various different types of foods. The ground floor will have an exit out towards Higgins House and a terrace by that exit.
The second floor will also be known as the Quad Level. The Quad level will feature an expanded bookstore, a café, a lounge area, an ATM, as well as several office areas. These areas will be for the Student Life Office and the Minority Student Affairs Office. There will also be an area for student publications on the Quad level. The Quad level features entrances from Alumni Fountain that will give access to the building from West Street and the Quad.
The third floor has several meeting rooms, a lounge, several large multi-purpose rooms, and more offices. These offices will mostly serve student organizations. The Student Activities Office, Student Government Office, Social Committee, International Student Council, Interfraternity and Panhellenic Council, and the Community Service Office are among those who will use these offices. WWPI will have a new sound booth on the third floor of the Campus Center.
After the groundbreaking ceremony, this building will begin to physically take shape before our eyes. This building will help foster a sense of community here at WPI, which will not just aid the student body, but the entire WPI community. This project has gotten to this point because of a large commitment by many people. When the Campus Center is ready to open by the spring of 2001, the efforts of those people will have created something all of us in the WPI community can enjoy.