Grad House construction date pushed back
LAST MARCH, THE Graduate Students’ Association (GSAÉD) passed a referendum to build the Grad House, a new grad student space on campus. The construction of the new space at the U of O was to start this November, but has been postponed until spring for financial reasons.
“It will house a new Café Nostalgica. It will also [serve as] a new building for GSAÉD and it will be a social student academic space for grad students on this campus,” said Caitlin Campisi, chair of the Grad House committee and internal commissioner for GSAÉD.
Campisi said the project has been in the works before the referendum was passed at the end of the last school year.
“There had been discussions on the campus for a long time regarding the lack of student space … as well as a need to update our current building,“ said Campisi.
The decision to postpone the building of the Grad House, which will involve the demolition of the current building, was made a couple of weeks ago after a consultation with the project management firm working with GSAÉD and other bodies involved in the project.
“It was a unanimous decision to push back the date,” said Campisi.
The change will allow GSAÉD to save money on winter construction costs, giving students a few extra months to enjoy the current services.
“The reason for [the new date] is that we want to be able to provide the best grad student space possible. In order to be able to do that, we need to be able to push back this date,” she added.
Campisi explained the new Grad House is now expected to open in January 2013, though it might be done before the deadline. She said students don’t mind the change in construction date—Campisi received positive feedback on the project.
“People have been largely supportive of the move to push back the date,” she said. “Students, of course, are quite attached to Café Nostalgica and haven’t been opposed to being able to use the current space for a few more months.”
—Jane Lytvynenko
