New Buildings Should be Underway by Year's End

Artists' renderings of the new University Club (above) and Children's Center (below).

In unanimous May 12 votes, the CSU's Board of Trustees accepted plans and campus budgets for a new $4.5 million University Club, to be built just south of the existing building, and a new $2.1 million Children's Center facility, which will be built due west of the current center.

Although they are separate projects, both buildings will replace aged facilities first developed in the early 1970s that no longer meet campus' needs. Both projects also will be financed by The University Corporation, a CSUN auxiliary, although that will require a future trustees' approval.

Phil Loughman, real estate manager for The University Corp., said he's particularly excited about the University Club project. When completed, Loughman said the combined restaurant-banquet hall-meeting space will provide a setting for fine dining unlike any other in the nearby San Fernando Valley.

"It's going to be unique. We think when it's finished, the whole town is going to be talking about it," Loughman said. "We're going to be able to accommodate a lot more events than we do now. And we'll be able to accommodate larger groups that we now have to turn away."

The planned 12,000-square-foot, one-story complex-with a California Rancho-style exterior-will include four major room areas, each with an adjoining outdoor patio area. The surrounding landscaping will be lush, and the project includes plans to add about 75 parking spaces.

The new club will consist of a dining room for up to 75 guests, about the same size as the current dining room; add a new banquet room area for up to 250 guests; a new club member's lounge area; a new multimedia meeting room, and a semi-enclosed outdoor patio courtyard for up to 250 guests.

The project also will include a new and expanded kitchen area for the club's lunches and catering activities. By combining all indoor and outdoor spaces, Loughman said the future club probably could handle an event for 1,500 people, about double the current capacity.

The current club, opened in 1974 after faculty members volunteered to help with construction, will remain open until the new facility is complete. Then the original club will be demolished and its site will be replaced with the lawn area taken for construction of the adjoining new club.

The new Children's Center will be a 12,200-square-foot, one- story stucco complex next to the current facility at 18343 Plummer Street, which later will be demolished. The new building will host up to 120 children, an increase of 42, and permit infant care services and after-school care for older children.

Campus officials said both new buildings should be completed by early 2001. Funding for the University Club project will come from the club's dues and operations. The new Children's Center is the result of a $5 per semester fee CSUN students have been paying since 1992.

-John Chandler