By Nick Cherico | Assistant Editor
In the fall of 2017, Mount Wachusett will officially unveil the Bemis Student Center. This student center will be a new space for students to do homework, play games, and hangout with their peers between classes.
According to Dean of Students Jason Zeleski, who has been leading this campaign for a new student center, the idea for the project started about two years ago with one question. That question was “how are students spending their time at the Mount?”
A feasibility study was conducted to give school officials an idea of what the campus may need to address certain student life issues. The results of the feasibility study were then taken and turned into feedback of what students like and don’t like.
When a design proposal for renovations was submitted, students were asked for their opinion. Their response suggested an idea of a space just for them. Zeleski stated that the bottom line was that students wanted a place they would be able to hangout and not have taken away from them no matter what.
After examining the design study, officials decided that the school could afford to put about $2-$3 million into this project. The total cost of the building will come out to $3.9 million. This money will come from revenue generated from student fees, the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM), and donated funds from Scott Howard of Bemis, who is on the MWCC Board of Trustees. Bemis is a plastic fabrication company located in Shirley, MA. This is where the name for the student center will come from.
This past summer, Dean of Students Jason Zeleski and other MWCC staff members drove out to Boston to meet with the Massachusetts State College Building Authority (MSCBA). This company helps build buildings on state/college property. According to Jason Zeleski, they mainly focus on building dorms or residential halls. The construction of the new student center will mark the first official MSCBA community college project.
School staff members then sat down with eight different architectural and construction firms, and a design concept was chosen. The main reason this particular design was chosen was due to the area that the student center will take up. It will be located on the outdoor patio down the hall from the bookstore and across from the cafe entrance.
The addition will take up about 4,500 square feet. It will include places for students to study, couches, televisions, gaming systems, ping-pong and pool tables, out-door Wi-Fi space, and a re-done lawn.
This project officially began in mid-March. It was then frozen until May 18th and construction will be complete on August 25th. This 100-day project is what some construction companies call a “summer slammer,” according to Zeleski. Expect the building to be ready next fall!
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