A new Active Zone and Front Desk is being built in Student Center West to replace a popular space for commuter students on campus.
Construction on a new lounge across the hall from Georgia State University bookstore has been ongoing since last summer. What used to be the “Panther Place” lounge has been shut down for months, and new details on the construction are few and far between.
The third-floor hallway of Student Center West is covered in cardboard and tape blocking off the space. With such a long closure and so little news, one can’t help but wonder what they are building.
Plastered on the walls of the construction site are flyers titled “Pardon Our Progress!” These flyers share what the new area may look like, which is the ‘Active Zone and Front Desk.”
Ymanie Foote, a third-year and team lead at the Georgia State University bookstore says this area has been shut down since the Spring of 2022.
“It used to have a steak and shake cafeteria and everything else in the restaurant,” she says. “On the side center, it used to be a waiting area for commuting students so they could sit down and eat. They have been under construction since the summertime.”
The lounge used to be one of the few spaces for commuter students to sit down and eat on campus. Before its closure, it provided group seating, microwaves and quiet spaces for students to work in. With the lounge now closed, students driving to campus for class have experienced issues finding places to be between classes.
When asked, Georgia State workers said they weren’t “sure” of what was being built but they heard they were “moving offices.”
“They are building an active zone and front desk, so it’s going to be a sitting area for commuter students to eat lunch, and student center service centers to my knowledge so lost and found, panthercard office and the transportation office,” said Foote.
Parker Allen, a fourth-year student at Georgia State, saw glimpses of the construction.
“When I was going to the elevator across the bookstore in the student center, I saw they had broken down the wall and there was a room that looked like they were in the process of building charging stations,” said Allen. “It looked like there were about 40 of them”
Ymanie Foote went on to say that she thinks the construction will be a good renovation however, other parts of campus need more focus.
“For example, Sparks Hall. There are also other things they could be paying attention to. For example, putting up more street lights and cameras” said Foote. “Also, the elevators across the bookstore are always broken.”
The Student Center hasn’t announced an opening date for the new Active Zone and Front Desk area. At the time of publishing, construction is still underway.
