Construction – College Admission at Loyola

Damen Student Center

By | March 11, 2013

If you haven’t heard, Loyola’s new student union (the Damen Student Center) is opening up this April. Although construction crews are putting the finishing touches on the interior building, I had the opportunity to tour the facility last week. It’s a truly incredible space. Our current student union (CSFU) has served it purpose on campus for some time, but the new student union blows what we have now out of the water. The space is going to be a beautiful focal point of campus, featuring a new theater space, a sports lounge and two new dining opportunities. Since I’m a VIP and a pretty cool guy, I took a bunch of pictures to show off. They’re below with explanations of what you’re seeing.

The View Inside After Entering From North Entrance

A Finer Look At The Union’s Glass Ceiling

The student center sits flush with the Gentile Center. This arch way serves as the southern entrance.

The Space Between Halas and The Damen Student Center

This big glass wall in between our student gym, Halas, and the student center is going to house the university’s two story rock wall. Pretty exciting.

The New Theater Space. Seats 100-Something People

View From 2nd Floor Windows Facing North West

The Student Center Is Pretty Close To The El, But Is Pretty Quiet.

The photo above is a view of Ireland’s Sports Lounge (named after the 1963 Men’s b-ball head coach George Ireland). It’s a space for students to gather for various events. The space will be open for students to use on their own daily (they’ll be pool tables to use), but will occasionally host sports-center viewing events.

I know it doesn’t look like much now, but those rectangles in the wall are going to house TVs. They’ll be a couple of this stations in the basement of the student union. The TVs will have satellite, but students will also be able to rent video game consoles from the front desk to play at these stations.

Above is a photos of the new dining hall in the student center. It’ll replace Lake Shore Dining (RIP). It’s a beautiful space that is located on the first floor. The photos below are of the dinning area that face towards Sheridan Rd and the Loyola El stop.

There you have it. A small preview of what students will get to use come April. That’s all you get to see for now. I can’t wait until students (current/prospective) get to check it out for themselves!

Loyola U(new)versity

By | November 17, 2011

If you have had the opportunity to walk around Loyola recently, you may notice a few things that stand out from the traditional college campus. That is because Loyola is not your common college campus.

Aside from being just miles north of one of the biggest cities in the United States, Loyola proudly boasts a split campus format that allows for the best of both worlds; a downtown campus for business, communication, and social work students to get valuable experience working in an urban environment and a northern campus to provide science, language, math and various other students the resources they need to complete their major.

Also occupying the northern campus are cranes, cement trucks and men in hardhats.

That is because Loyola is in the midst of a drastic multi-million dollar make-over. Beginning with Norville Athletic Center, a state-of-the-art training facility for Loyola athletes, Loyola will continue to create and construct multiple venues for students. Next on the illustrious to-do list is the Cuneo, a learning hall for students. With its completion due by the end of second semester 2011, Halas will begin its face-lift. Halas, the current student exercise facility and gym will be replaced by Halas 2.0, complete with new exercise equipment, pool and rock wall for the more daring of Ramblers.

In addition to the construction of Halas, a new student union will be build right next door. This student union will replace and out-do the current CFSU (located on the ground level of the historic Mertz dorm). In addition to Halas, residence halls Rockhurst and Holy Cross (my home) will be torn down at the end of summer to be made into new residence halls.

Understandably, Loyola looks like a Caterpillar parking lot a times, but only because our gracious benefactors wanted to give back to the school that served them. For those feeling like the Water Tower Campus is getting the short end of the deal, no worries because soon construction will begin on a new business school.
Loyola will be a neat place to be over the course of the next few years. For current students like me, we will only have the honor of using a few of the many new buildings going up, but even now I feel spoiled. If you haven’t seen Loyola recently, then you haven’t seen Loyola U(new)versity, and if you can’t wait to check it out in person, here is an overhead diagram of the changes you will see.