Student center gets new wing

GALVESTON — Days into the fall semester, students at Galveston College still are waiting for the opening of the additional wing to the Cheney Student Center.

But campus officials said it won’t be long.

“The students are ready,” college President Myles Shelton said. “We know they’re looking forward to having events there and using the new space. We’re in the last stages now.”

The building initially was slated to be completed by July, adding about 7,300 square feet of space to the student center.

The college now is hoping for an October opening after final touches are made to the added wing. A walk-through inspection is scheduled for Sept. 15.

Inside, the building features high ceilings and a removable room divider. In a few weeks, screens will be installed in the theater-style main room.

The project, costing $1.5 million, was funded by the island-based Abe and Annie Seibel Foundation and is the first major addition to the center since it opened in 1982.

Joe Huff, director of public affairs for the college, said the addition, called the Abe and Annie Seibel Wing, can be used for assemblies, student group meetings and overflow classes.

“We will not only be able to host student groups here but others as well,” he said. “Once seating is in here, we can fit about 260 people in here.”

Construction began in January, although plans initially intended for renovations to start in 2008.

“We were going to go up, add a second floor and expand that way, but after the hurricane and looking at the cost of steel, we changed our minds,” Huff said. “It was apparent that our plans would have to shift.”

Houston-based Morris Architects designed the building, and EMJ Corp. was selected as the contractor.

Roshawn Williams, a freshman at the college, said he only recently had heard about the additional facility.

“I know it’s going to be spacious, and we can always use more space,” the psychology major said. “So far, I like the atmosphere, too, of this campus, so this building will be nice to have added to that.”

Shelton said campus life for the community college will benefit in more ways than one from the new building.

“Our students are important,” he said. “Students need a place to have activities and events and just a place to relax. This is it.”