Student Union reconstruction project underway

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this fall, the Student Union on the main campus in Storrs is undergoing a major facelift. In fact, over the next several years and in a number of construction phases, the Student Union will be transformed to meet better the needs of the students it serves. An expanded food court, a movie theater and a central home for all the University's cultural centers will be among the new features. It will also provide both large and more intimate meeting space for numerous student and University-sponsored activities.

The Student Union after its dedication in 1952.

The Student Union was first proposed by former president Albert Jorgensen who, in 1935, envisioned a center dedicated to student activities. At the time, student options were limited, and the Community House of the Storrs Congregational Church functioned as the primary venue for student meetings and campus activities.

Planning began in earnest in the early 1940s, although, like many construction projects nationally, it was delayed for the duration of World War II. Originally, the Student Union was intended to have a central cafeteria; a six-lane bowling alley; rooms for the student newspaper, yearbook and literary publication staffs; an art gallery; a museum of natural history; an auditorium/banquet hall; a ballroom; and 14 guest rooms for alumni, parents or other visitors.

With $490,000 in initial state funding, the Alumni Association mounted a two-year fund-raising campaign to bridge the gap between the state funding and the total proposed cost of $600,000. But between the time of the fund-raising and planning phase and the actual construction, costs rose. Financial constraints were compounded by the high demand for additional residence halls and academic buildings in those post-World War II years as enrollment burgeoned with the influx of former military personnel.

With a more moderate and substantially modified design, the Student Union opened in fall 1952 with the annual president's reception and as host to an estimated 10,000 students, alumni and visitors during Home-coming Weekend.

From its opening, the Student Union was known as the "hub of student life" and brought together the then-Connecticut Campus, WHUS radio, the Associated Student Government, and the Nutmeg yearbook staff.

The building has undergone changes over the decades, with numerous renovations and the expansion and relocation of various organizations. Yet there have been at least two constants: the Control Desk, and the Student Union Board of Governors.

You can still buy a pack of gum or a newspaper or check out a board game or deck of cards at the Control Desk. Social activities, from lectures to concerts, are planned by the Board of Governors.

When the building opened in 1952, UConn entered a new era in student activities, said Dan Blume, class of 1953 and then-president of the student government. Blume's words ring true again as the 50-year-old Student Union enters a new phase of providing service and community to the University, its alumni, and especially its students.

-- Mark J. Roy '74 (CLAS)

Rendering of the Student Union reconstruction.