Goshen College community settles into the renovated Union Building

With the spring semester off to a start and the renovations in the Goshen College Union Building completed, staff members and students have had time to adjust and settle to the new spaces. 

The eight-month long project was completed in September of 2019. The last piece of the puzzle was the relocation and new design of  ITS Media, the AV desk and the bookstore.

ITS Media now has larger work and office spaces. These renovations were part of a separate project and budget from the previous reservations of the Juanita Lark Welcome Center and the new Leaf Raker Cafe.

Glenn Gilbert, director of facilities at Goshen College, was in charge of overseeing the project decisions and managing contractors, all while being in conversation with departments and offices involved to identify the needs of people and how they would come to exist in their new spaces. 

“It is really nice to design our own space,” said Claire Franz, a student employee at ITS Media. “We have a lot of different responsibilities and the old space was never really designed for that. It is nice to have a space that is designed for what we need to do.”

Over Christmas break, the campus bookstore was relocated to the north end of the Union building, where the Welcome Center was previously located. The role of the bookstore has changed and the move was a good one to make, Gilbert said. 

“I do enjoy the new space. It is much brighter and we have much more foot traffic,” said Steven Turnbull, campus bookstore manager. “We’re excited about going forward and that we might get to see more people and interact with the community more.”

“We like it here so much better than the other side,” said Fred Torres, a campus bookstore employee. “The people that come in here are commenting how much nicer it is.” 

The space that previously held the bookstore is empty, for now. Gilbert is collaborating with different departments to come up with ideas and proposals for how the empty space can be used. The Space Planning Committee, made up of Goshen College faculty, administrators and students, will then provide a variety of recommendations based on proposals submitted.