Elon University is undergoing major upgrades this summer as it expands with new buildings and renovations to existing ones.
Students will arrive back on campus to find several projects completed — and others in progress to be finished as soon as December.
The Station at Mill Point
Construction, painting, landscaping and the addition of furniture at The Station at Mill Point will be completed in August. The residential neighborhood will feature 24 townhouse-style apartment buildings to house about 320 juniors and seniors. The two-story residences will be of different shapes and colors and have two to four apartment units per building, each unit featuring private rooms and bathrooms. The Station at Mill Point will include a commons building with study rooms, a fitness facility and office space for Student Professional Development Center staff. There will also be an outdoor pool and recreation facilities, an amphitheatre, gardens and other outdoor gathering places.
Lakeside Dining Hall
Construction on Elon’s newest dining hall will be completed in December 2012. Lakeside Dining Hall will be connected to Moseley Center, nearly doubling the size of the facility. Brick is being laid on the exterior of the building and interior walls are being framed. The two-story building will feature an exposed beam ceiling and house retail dining options, a large dining hall and a large, second-story multi-purpose conference room similar to the existing McKinnon Hall in Moseley Center. Outside the conference area, there will be a second-floor patio overlooking Young Commons. An outdoor plaza facing the shores of Lake Mary Nell will provide a gathering space for students between the dining hall and the Center for the Arts.
Numen Lumen Pavilion
Elon’s new multi-faith center is scheduled to be finished in January 2013; the steel structural beams are complete and construction workers are beginning to put up the interior walls of the building. The staff of Elon’s Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, and the Elon Center for the Study of Religion, Culture and Society will be housed in the Numen Lumen Pavilion. The building will feature a sacred space, multi-purpose room, classroom and a student lounge area called “The Oasis.” The round, two-story sacred space features tall windows and a balcony and can be oriented in any direction to facilitate many types of worship. The sacred space may also be conjoined to the multi-purpose room to create one larger space.
Hunt Softball Park
Construction is proceeding on Elon’s new softball stadium, located across Williamson Avenue from Rhodes Stadium. Hunt Softball Park will be completed in December 2012 with a state-of-the-art field, dugouts, lighting, scoreboard, press box, and entry plaza and grandstand seating. Fundraising continues for a second phase of the project, which will consist of a clubhouse building with locker rooms.
Renovation of Duke Building
The computing sciences department will soon have a new home on the first floor of Duke Building. The area that formerly housed the Office of Career Services has been remodeled to provide a spacious new home for the Carpenter Lab, a student engagement area and faculty offices for the computing sciences department. The move has allowed the mathematics department to expand into renovated space on the second and third floors of Duke Building.
The Academic Support and Advising office on the first floor of Duke was also remodeled, including new offices, a modified reception area and expanded student testing rooms.
Renovation in McMichael Science Center
On the ground floor of McMichael Science Center, the former home of the doctor of physical therapy program is being renovated to provide three new dedicated teaching laboratories and classrooms for environmental science, engineering and physiology. There will also be enhanced undergraduate research space for physics and biology, a new space for engineering student engagement and enhanced space for the Center for Environmental Studies.
The move of the environmental science department out of its former home in Powell House will provide a new home for the art history department, a renovated space for the Elon Academy and a new resource room for LGBTQ students and organizations.
Renovation of the Truitt Center
The current building housing the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life will undergo renovations during fall semester to become the new Hillel Center at Elon. Added during renovations will be a large community kitchen, a spacious engagement area for programming and meals, and a computer lab and lounge on the second floor. The center will be ready in January 2013. During fall semester, Truitt Center staff members will move into temporary offices in The Colonnades residential neighborhood until construction is complete on the Numen Lumen Pavilion.
Other projects
The Town of Elon is installing curb and gutter and extending sidewalks along Lebanon and Trollinger Avenues, parallel to the railroad tracks.
Numerous renovation and renewal projects will continue Elon’s commitment to strong maintenance of residence halls, including the installation of new bike racks and benches, painting, roof and carpet replacements and new mechanical systems.
The Office of Environmental Sustainability will have a new home in Mooney Building to support the work of the director and the new faculty fellow.
As part of Elon’s diverse spaces initiative, teaching spaces in Lindner Hall and the Isabella Cannon International Studies Pavilion will be enhanced to encourage global thinking through visuals.
By Natalie Allison ’13