At the corner of Lumpkin and Baxter streets, construction of the second phase of Terry’s Business Learning Community is nearing completion.
Amos Hall and the two, yet-to-be-named buildings that connect Amos to Correll Hall will open next fall. At 140,000 square feet, Phase II is the largest of all three construction phases. With construction scheduled for completion in May, Terry will begin moving into Phase II in early June.
“We are incredibly excited for completion of the second phase, which is the result of the collective efforts and support of so many,” says Dean Ben Ayers. “With its completion, all of our faculty and students will work, learn, study and collaborate in facilities that are second to none.”
Here are five more reasons we are looking forward to Phase II’s completion:
1. A good first impression
With high ceilings, 5,000 square feet of space and seating for 150, Amos Hall’s Casey Commons will provide an impressive welcome.
Beyond first impressions, Casey Commons will also act as a home base for the students, faculty, staff and friends of Terry to study and interact.
“The Business Learning Community was designed around the concept of creating an inviting environment and community where students learn, study, work on projects, interact with faculty inside and outside the classroom, and network with peers, alumni and employers. Casey Commons will play a key part in achieving that goal,” Ayers says.
2. Everyday space for amazing students and special occasions
The second floor of the Hull Street building features a multipurpose room capable of hosting 160 for a seated dinner, and many more for college events and presentations.
The multipurpose room will offer a better alternative to the Brooks Hall lawn, which has long been the only on-site option for college-wide events, rain or shine. When it’s not being used for special events, the room will be open for student use.
Phase II will include ample area dedicated to undergraduate student collaboration. In addition to the Casey Commons and multipurpose room, Phase II will include 15 project team rooms, each with a mounted LCD panel that can connect up to four laptops at a time, allowing students to display and discuss their group work.
3. ‘The wonderful smell of baking’
Next to Casey Commons, the Rothenberger Café will house an Au Bon Pain café and bakery, so “we’ll have the wonderful smell of baking to make us hungry throughout the day,” jokes Brad Hunt, executive director of Terry’s Office of Information Technology, who has helped facilitate the construction of the Business Learning Community.
Au Bon Pain (French for “with good bread”) will offer full breakfast and lunch menus. Well known for its fresh and healthy dining options, the chain has repeatedly earned Health magazine’s distinction as one of America’s Top Five Healthiest Restaurants.
4. A room within a room
On the ground floor of the Hull Street building, the Music Business Certificate Program will move into some amped-up digs. The MBUS lab will consist of a classroom and a recording studio.
The classroom space will include student work tables stocked with 25 iMacs, complete with Apple’s ProTools, a multi-track recording software that MBUS Director David Barbe calls “the ubiquitous language of recording studios.”
For students interested in music production, the room where the music happens is actually a room within a room.
This recording booth will be completely sound-proofed, with dampers connecting all wires through the ceilings. This goes for the control booth next door, too. Even the glass between the recording and control booths will be angled so it doesn’t reverberate and cause bounce-back echoes.
“This new space is going to open up a lot of creative possibilities,” Barbe says. “The most exciting ones are the ones that we haven’t thought of yet that will only manifest themselves once we’re actually in the space.”
5. Cutting-edge technology
Across Casey Commons from the Rothenberger Café, the Benn Capital Markets Lab will be a classroom for finance majors and a learning lab for other students. The 1,800 square-foot finance lab will be stocked with technology that moves at the speed of markets.
“We’ll be able to mimic what they do in trading rooms like the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, but it’s much more than that,” says Finance Department Head Jeffry Netter. “It’s a central location for accessing data like FactSet and thinking about how to use it and learn from it.”
The lab will be equipped with proprietary market data on Bloomberg Professional terminals. Finance lecturer James Johnson will be an instructor for students using Bloomberg’s software.
Rounding out the technology in place, the Benn Capital Markets Lab will be fitted with video over IP technology that can link the lab’s cable TV feeds, 12 Bloomberg terminals and six laptop inputs at each work table with any of the three, 90-inch LED monitors on the walls.
“I’m very excited about it,” Netter says. “The Benn Capital Markets Lab will give the Finance Department somewhat of a new identity.”
At 140,000 square feet, Phase II is the largest of all three construction phases. Amos Hall and the two, yet-to-be-named buildings that connect Amos to Correll Hall will open next fall.
Keep checking our webcam to watch our progress toward the June move-in.