Friday, University of Kentucky students watched as the top beam of the new student center was hoisted and put in place, bringing the school that much closer to enjoying what president Eli Capilouto calls a new “living room.”
"So they tell me January '18 we're going to move into our living room," he told the crowd gathered at Stoll Field across from the construction site. "Between now and then, let us work so that what we dream is going to happen within those walls happens in those walls."
The event marks the official end of the structural phase of construction for the more than $200 million project. Student body president Rowan Reid said, while she'll have graduated by the time work is complete, she expects students will get a lot more out of the new facility.
"Every aspect of [the design] was 'How does this help students?'" she says. "For example, the social staircase we already have in the Gatton building. It's going to be an awesome experience where students can just hang out."
Students, faculty, and others left their mark on the beam as well, writing their names in sharpies on it before crews installed atop the structure.
