This past Monday marked the opening of the South Hall of the Gateway Academic Center located on the corner of 6th and Hudson Street. This project, which began construction roughly two years ago, is finally coming to an end. The partial opening of the South Hall includes “seven classrooms, ranging in capacity from 25 to 129 seats,” as well as public areas according to emails sent to the student body from Vice President for Facilities and Campus Operations Robert Maffia.
The new Gateway Academic Center will include a dedicated atrium for meetings and collaboration, and will feature a Grab and Go Café in the north gateway building. Also featured in the new buildings are 13 individual labs.
While the remainder of the building, and the rest of the Gateway Academic Center, is still under construction, students have already taken advantage of both the classrooms and the various seating spaces throughout the building. One student, Elena Malova, commented, “I like it! The architecture is very modern and appealing to me. The classrooms feel intimidating though because of the high ceilings and the fact that all the walls are white, but the desks are great.” Many students have echoed similar sentiments.
The new center includes seven computer science labs, a new cybersecurity lab, and a health and artificial intelligence lab. Computer Science student Ed Minnix said, “The Computer Science students really like the new desks in the building since they’re a lot more ergonomic than the desks in the North Building. We’re eagerly awaiting for the rest of the building to be open and ready for use.”
Some students have been exploring the now open areas of the building, including the cellar of the building. The cellar includes two classrooms, a mechanical room, an electrical room, and a room with showers. “I don’t know why the new buildings have showers, but I’m at least glad they’re gender-inclusive,” said graduate student Dakota Van Deursen.
With the partial opening of the South Hall, one side of the 6th Street sidewalk was opened as well. This allows students to cross between River and Hudson Street on 6th Street for the first time since the closure of the street back in 2017. In regard to the opening of 6th Street, Minnix also commented, “I think it is a highly anticipated addition to the walkways at Stevens that is beneficial to most Stevens students who have class on lower campus.” The opening of this street was particularly beneficial for students who live north of 5th Street. Jacob Schozer, one of the brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon, located on Hudson Street between 5th and 6th, said, “I’m so glad I no longer have to temporize my walk to class due to construction; it’s much shorter now.”
According to the Stevens website, the buildings are set to have a total of “17 smart classrooms, 6 advanced labs and 45 faculty offices.” While the buildings were originally planned to open in time for the Fall 2019 semester, construction efforts fell behind. There is currently no announced date for the full opening of the Gateway Academic Center and the remainder of 6th Street.
Be First to Comment