VU Board Approves Construction of New Union

Following an extensive planning process, Valparaiso University’s Board of Directors has made it official: a new union is coming to campus.

The board this fall authorized the construction, with the entire project totaling nearly $74 million. The university already has received many gifts from alumni and friends, and fundraising remains strong in order to bridge a $13 million gap in funding.

At 205,000-square-feet, the proposed facility is more than three times the size of the current union, which was built in 1955 for a population of 2,000 students. The existing union has served the campus well but is no longer adequate for today’s enrollment of 3,900.

“The new union is a critical next step in fulfilling the university’s campus master plan,” says VU President Alan Harre. “Facilities proposed under the plan, such as the Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources and now the union, were selected based on their potential to impact the greatest number of students. They are designed to enhance students’ educational experiences as well as the university’s national reputation and brand.”

The need for a new union is clear, and so are the advantages. The union:

• helps students develop vital leadership, teamwork and social skills, with activity space for approximately 100 student organizations;
• provides a place for students to interact with, and learn from, people from diverse cultures. The building also contains an international and multicultural suite;
• fosters community, with a large central dining hall where students, faculty and staff can dine together;
• features a banquet/multipurpose room that can seat 500 people for banquets or 1,000 for lectures;
• supports students in their vocational exploration, with an office suite for the Career Center;
• includes a convenience store, a post office and mailbox for each student on campus, and a bookstore that also would carry Valpo merchandise for alumni.

The union will be situated on the site formerly occupied by Moellering Library, with sight lines open to the Chapel of the Resurrection. Like the Christopher Center, it will be of a height and size that is in deference to the chapel.

Design architects are the award-winning Sasaki Associates Inc. of Boston, an international firm that has designed numerous university unions. The architects of record are Design Organization, a Valparaiso firm that has been involved in a variety of building projects on the VU campus. Construction begins in November, with the building to open during the university’s 150th anniversary, academic year 2008-’09.

“This facility is the central element to help Valpo boost student recruitment and retention,” says President Harre. “It underscores the faith-based, residential community education that distinguishes Valparaiso University."