By MARQUISE LANIER
Contributing Writer
Piedmont College began working on a new student center on May 1, 2013. According to James F. Mellichamp, the President of Piedmont College, the student center was predicted to be finished between fall of 2014 and spring of 2015. However, the construction has been delayed twice. The main reason for the delays is due to snow that came through Demorest last winter.
“I was expecting the student center to be finished earlier, but it’s okay. I’m just glad they are finally building something new,” said Chris Meeks, a junior business and psychology major at Piedmont.
The student center that is being used now has old wooden floors and staff offices. In earlier years, it was used as a basketball gym for the men and women’s teams.
“I can remember playing in the old gym when I was at Piedmont. Now the basketball teams are blessed enough to have a new, fancy gym”, said Manny Thomas, a former Piedmont college student.
As reported by, Access North Georgia, the new student center will have a number of new add-ons for the campus such as a basketball gym, fitness center and café. Not only will the student center impact Piedmont students, but it also has the potential to draw in high school students looking for somewhere to go to college.
Nick Ryan, a freshman business major at Piedmont, said, “When I came to visit Piedmont, I loved everything about it, but when I saw the student center, I was disappointed. When I found out they were building a new one, it made me more excited to come to Piedmont.”
Many people decide not to come to Piedmont because it is such a small school, but for some students, this is a positive. President Mellichamp mentioned that the new student center will be equal or better than some of the bigger schools in the Southeast, which could attract more students.
Justin Vallejo, a freshman mass communications major at Piedmont, said, “I am looking forward to having the café closer to Purcell. And even next year if I switch dorms, it will still be closer because the majority of the dorms will be near the new student center”.
In the last few months, the construction team working on the student center has made a lot of progress. Workers are now starting to apply piping and glass to the building.
“I try not to focus on how long it has taken for the center to be built,” said Ryan.
