Renovations to the former UBC Faculty Club building get underway July 1 in the first stage of its transformation into the new University Gathering Place.
The initial phase of refurbishing the 40-year-old building will take about five months with re-opening targeted for January 1999, according to Chuck Slonecker, acting vice-president, External Affairs, and chair of the University Gathering Place Committee.
The main floor will be used as a meeting place for students, staff, faculty and campus visitors and will feature a restaurant open for lunch.
The top floor will be occupied by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.
Twelve guest rooms will be re-opened and there will be space available to rent for catered functions.
The basement will not be renovated in the first phase of re-opening.
A barbecue in the University Gathering Place parking lot and a hard hat tour of the renovation is planned for September, Slonecker says. He hopes construction will be far enough along in December to hold a Christmas luncheon in the building.
The new facility is made possible through a partnership of Food Services, Land and Building Services, Parking and Transportation, the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies and UBC's professors emeritii.