JUST IMAGINE THE CHESS CLUB MEETINGS YOU COULD HAVE IN THIS PLACE! Artist renderings depicting UW-Eau Claire’s completed student center plan – facing north-ish (above) and south-ish (below).

Ah, college. When classes are finished, daily assignments have been read, and reflection papers have been postponed until lunch hour tomorrow, all a student wants to do is relax with friends at the student union, with it’s long lines for food, cramped eating spaces, and poorly-lit lounges with lumpy furniture that’s older than most of the sophomores.

That’s been the case at the universities of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Stout for several years, but both are gearing up to break ground on new student union projects during this 2010-11 school year.

Memorial Student Center at UW-Stout will undergo a $19 million renovation to update the current space. The original design, crafted in 1985, is described as “not an inviting place” by Phillip Lyons, assistant vice chancellor for student life services. The new plans are to open up the existing space and add natural light. The renovated student center will adjoin the new $43 million science building – Jarvis Hall – to create a “central hub” on Stout’s campus. The project was approved by the UW System Board of Regents in August, but is still pending approval by the Wisconsin State Building Commission. If approved this month by the commission, bids are scheduled to be received in November, with construction to start in January. The project is scheduled to be substantially completed in March 2012.

At UW-Eau Claire, ground-breaking for the new $48.8 million University Center is scheduled for early 2011. The new building will be built in the space between Little Niagara Creek and the Phillips Hall parking lot on lower campus, just south of the current student center, W.R. Davies Center. The new building site was shifted to the east toward Phillips Science Hall to preserve the historic Council Oak tree and a 50-foot radius around it.

Both projects will be funded entirely by student segregated fees, and both universities have extensively involved the students in the planning process through surveys, committees, and focus groups.

At UW-Eau Claire, several students sit on planning committees alongside faculty members, department directors, and vice chancellors. Student committee members gave the issue of sustainability the strongest push.

“It’s very nice to see the investments th    at the architecture firm and the committee have all made in emphasizing (sustainability),” said 2009-10 Student Senate president Michael Umhoefer. In the final design of the space, there will be signs and markers pointing out how certain elements of the building are conserving energy and promoting sustainability.

After these student unions are complete, both UW-Eau Claire and Stout have plans for further projects. Stout just finished sprucing up dorm rooms in Holvid Hall and had a grand opening for North Point, a new dining and fitness center. The grand opening of the new Jarvis Hall is scheduled for October 15. UW-Eau Claire will be constructing a new children’s center later this year, and breaking ground for a new academic building for the College of Education and Human Sciences in 2011.

With all these projects, some students may never know what campus looks like without a crane or bulldozer. However, the general consensus seems to be that it will all be worth it, so that someday there will be enough seating for everyone at lunchtime, better venues for student meetings, and comfortable chairs for in-between class napping.