The still-under-construction Collis Student Center will burst out of its plywood and plastic coating and welcome students on the first day of Winter term, administrators said yesterday.
Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia said the building's doors will be thrown open during a weekend of extravagant ceremony and celebration in January. But she said a date has not been set.
"Construction is progressing wonderfully," she said. "The question is: Are we going to have everything else in place? We never know what the delays will be."
Sateia said the furniture delivery schedule could delay the opening.
The completed renovation will meld parts of the old Collis Center and College Hall on the corner of Main and Wheelock Streets. Both buildings closed last December.
With a new glass facade, the building was originally slated to re-open in March 1994.
Linda Kennedy, coordinator of student activities, said construction on the building is almost finished. She said the building should settle for one or two months after physical construction is done.
Administrators are pinning their hopes on Collis as a social hub for the campus. Though the building will house offices and student organizations, its main purpose is to create a social space for students outside of the Greek system.
A committee that examined residential life at the College proposed building a student center in 1987. The committee's report recommended that the College reduce the role of fraternities and sororities in the social life of the campus by adding a building for all students.
In its planning stages, the center included links to Robinson Hall and Thayer Dining Hall. But the final construction incorporated just Collis and College Hall.
The project was hamstrung for several years while administrators searched for a benefactor who would pay for the changes. In March of 1992, Charles Collis '37 and his wife Ellen donated $5.5 million to fund the project.
Though the building is ahead of schedule, it has not been an easy project, Sateia said. Construction was delayed when parts for wiring were stuck on the western side of the massively flooded Mississippi River this summer, Kennedy said.
Construction engineers have "had some real problems ... but I've got my fingers crossed. I'm pretty optimistic," Sateia said.
"People will be blown away when they see it," she said.
