Voice!

A few weeks ago the Senior Interviewers (among others) were granted a tour of the yet-to-be-completed Usdan University Center, and boy do I have a treat for you: pictures!! One caveat: I took these almost three weeks ago (I know, I know, I should have gotten them up sooner), so everything could look entirely different. However, I’m sure that this will give you a good enough idea of what the space will look like once completed (use your imagination!). Shall we begin our virtual tour? Let’s.

We’ll start in the very basement of the building. This, obviously, is the main kitchen. Here is where all the [food] magic happens. Even though this may look like an unfinished Burger King, as Petra’s post about Bon Appetit explains, I’m sure that the food will be far superior.

The ceiling in the ballroom is simply fantastic! Actually, they refurbished the original ceiling. The wooden piece suspended below is there for acoustic reasons, and it also incorporates heating/AC vents.

Here we have the ballroom itself in all of its unfished glory. Since this picture was taken, they have installed the hardwood floor.

Students entered our previous large dining hall, MoConaughy Hall, by walking down into the room. They’ve kept this tradition alive in Usdan (just as the Argus reported) by installing a neato curved stariway connecting the lower and upper dining areas.

There is a really nice patio facing Andrus Field. The builder told us that they plan to put teak dining furniture here, so that students can dine outside.

It may not look like much right now, but this is actually the heart of the beast: the cafeteria, where students will have access to many of the dining options that I mentioned in my previous post about the center.

If you have visited campus, you may have seen these red rafters peeking through the Usdan windows. This room, which I believe is basically complete, will be both a dining room during the day and a multi-purpose space at night.

They really went all out for this building. Yes, these counter tops are marble.

I’ll leave you with this beautiful view of PAC, Olin Library, and Clark Hall!

Hope you’re as excited as I am,
Justin Holzwarth ‘08
Senior Interviewer