A fairly old building on campus, the White Activities Center (WAC), has been going through heavy renovation and construction to better accommodate students and faculty.
“Back in fall of 2018, we knew the cooling system for the building needed to be replaced,” said Vice President of Operations Mike Hudson. “We actually started the Monday after graduation. We went in, started demolition, though we had a shorter summer, so we knew it was going to be a challenge with that timeframe.”
WAC under construction, preparing for new additions. Photo by Noah Cordoba
As the project went on more plans were added, such as the replacement of the windows. These, however, along with the doors, were lead time items. These types of items are made on-demand and take time to make and deliver. Chicago is also known to be very busy with construction in the summer. Many different companies and organizations want to get their own projects done. Fortunately, this hasn’t affected deadlines too much for the WAC renovation.
“How we do construction at North Central is that we get it right,” said Director of Operations Natalie Vivacqua. “We don’t just finish it, we do it the proper way to benefit students and to last.”
The area itself has had heavy renovation. One major change is a large hall that has been broken up into subsections. One of these subsections is now a student lounge.
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- Photos by Sangki Chhoki
“The lounge can still be rented out by departments and faculty, but it is still meant to be a student gathering space,” said Vivacqua.
Offices from the basement have also been renovated and moved to the top floor. Workstations have been added to provide more study space for students. A Multicultural Center has also been created on the opposite side of the lounge. Only students will be able to rent out this section.
“What we are trying to create is a suite of offices up there,” said Rachel Pridgen, director of student involvement. “The Office of Student Involvement and Multicultural Affairs will both have a space to share. The student lounge can be used for anyone, such as an extra space to eat, study or relax between classes.”
There will also be offices for student and graduate assistants. In addition, there will be two conference rooms that students and faculty can rent out. “Overall, it’s just some great space,” said Pridgen.
The top floor renovations were completed this week, allowing students to rent out the space when it is available.
