Renovations will begin inside NIC’s Student Union Building (SUB) this week.
NIC’s current coffee shop, The Educated Cup, will be moved to where the Windy Bay lounge is currently located and be remodeled to accomodate it’s new purpose
“For the most part it’s unutilized so it should be a good thing seeing the coffee shop relocated,” said ASNIC Vice President Joshua Brands.
The new coffee shop will provide additional power stations, designated areas for USB ports, new lighting fixtures and additional booths for seating.
“I’m excited to be able to improve that space significantly by moving it to another location that has more privacy, better lighting, more intimacy, better access for people to study and better access to power,” said Student Union Manager Matt Sebby.
The space currently used to house the Educated Cup was originally built to operate as an information desk. In the future it will be refitted for that use and also function as a One Card office.
“The neatest part of this is the ability to have an information desk for students coming in off the street to have some place immediately to go to with question,” Sebby said.
The Student Union Administration has been working with ASNIC as well as the Student Union Advisory Board to set this project in motion and went through a bid to find a contractor earlier this month.
The college is set to work with H2A architects for designs and TRINDERA Construction for lighting design. GINNO Construction will be performing the actual construction.
With a total budget of $170,000 for renovation, the end product is estimated to be significantly under budget, said Sebby.
According to the construction statement, renovation will take a total of 45 days to complete; however, complex design elements might delay completion.
“We’ve been working on this project six months but we have wanted to do it significantly longer than that,” Sebby said. “It came together pretty quickly in terms of a college based project.”
Plans for renovation, including student input, design elements and location have been in the works as far back as a year ago.
“Because it’s the Student Union Building we try to involve students as much as possible in every stage of the construction,” Sebby said. “Students give input as far as design elements that they’re interested in.”
The portraits of past presidents currently located in Windy Bay will be moved to a different location in the SUB and be put into an exhibit.
“Students shouldn’t have to worry about the pictures; we’re looking for a location that will suitably hold all the pictures,” Brands said.
