First on decorahnews.com: New student union at NICC Calmar gives students a central meeting place

The new $7 million addition and remodeling of NICC Calmar's Student Center is now open. Students began using the space when classes started earlier this month.

The project has added over 30,000 square feet of space for student services. There's a new cafeteria that seats 300 people. There's a new bookstore that will be twice to three times the size of the previous bookstore. There's an expanded Learning and Writing Center that features five staff members giving help to NICC students. The school's Student Services offices are now clustered together in a new office area where students can get "one stop" assistance.

But most of all the new facility gives the NICC Calmar campus a central meeting place that it lacked before the project. "This is the building that's bringing the students back," notes NICC President Penny Wills. That is shown by touring the new building and discovering all the spaces where students can study or just relax between classes. The addition and remodeling was planned with such spaces in mind—active places where students can meet other students, as well as quiet places where students can concentrate on their studies.

The Student Center project is the latest in a series of construction projects that NICC began after getting voter approval for a $35 million construction bond issue. There have been several projects completed on the NICC Peosta campus, as well as the remodeling of Max Clark Hall and the Trades & Industries building on the NICC Calmar campus.

More projects on the NICC Calmar campus could be in the works. Wills says the school has received several grants for the previous projects, which means it hasn't spent all the bond issue money. Projects to remodel Wilder Hall and the Administration Building are in the discussion stages.

Whatever decisions are made, NICC Provost Dr. Liang Chee Wee says it's important to understand the facilities are community facilities. "They are publicly funded, for the public," he states. NICC officials are currently in the process of setting guidelines for community rental of areas in the Student Center and have already planned at least one large banquet in the cafeteria area.

So it's not just students who will enjoy the 30,000 square feet of new facilities. The NICC Calmar Campus Student Center will have "a community wide impact," says Dr. Wee.

The new cafeteria includes several booths

Centralized Student Services offices

The Student Learning Center has been busy

The reference library includes a fireplace