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USF Student Center Grows Along With Enrollment

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By MARIA JOSE SUBIRIA and MARINELLA MOZZICATO, Special to the Tribune

Published: October 29, 2007

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TAMPA - University of South Florida's student union building was a lot like many roads in Tampa: When it was built, it was sufficient, but with growth, became inadequate.

By the end of July, however, a new, $64 million Marshall Student Center ready to serve USF's 36,000 students will replace the building that served 2,000 USF students in 1960.

"It's the one-stop shop," said Faran Abbasi, the student vice president. "They want everyone in between classes to be in the Marshall Center."

Joe Synovec, the center's director who is overseeing the project, said construction, which began in December, is on track for completion. 'Everything is going smoothly,' he said.

The old student center, also named for former center director Phyllis P. Marshall, had 106,000 square feet but will be replaced with a 235,000-square-foot building that will stand four stories tall on the south side and three stories on the north end.

"Nearly every student organization on campus has felt the impact of limited space for meeting in the Marshall Center," Abbasi said.

The new student union will have 25 meeting rooms, twice as many as now.

A two-story computer lab will have 100 workstations for student use, Synovec said, replacing a crowded computer lab in the old building's basement that often has long waiting lines.

In 2005, the student government and USF President Judy Genshaft approved the use of a $13 million capital improvement trust fund, generated from activity and service fees that students pay, to build a new student union.

Students pay an additional $20 flat fee and $1.50 a credit hour in order to fund the project, according to the Marshall Student Center Renovation Project Web site.

Students haven't just been involved in the funding, however. They've had a voice on the center's specifics through online surveys. As a result, officials are negotiating to locate a Moe's Southwestern Grill in the center instead of a Taco Bell.

The new student union also will feature a Beef O'Brady's, decked out in USF green and gold, the first full-service sports grill on campus with menu items such as wings, fries, burgers, sodas, beers and wines.

"Our student population is adults," Synovec said about the alcohol on campus. "We don't think there will be a problem."

Other food venues in the new center will be Chik-fil-A, a full-size Einstein Bros Bagels, Sbarro's Italian Eatery, Bleecker Street Cafe, a sushi and noodle bar concept and an ice cream shop. The new food court will seat 600 people on the first floor, three times the seating of the current center.

An atrium will showcase all areas of the center.

"When you look in the building, you'll be able to look up and look around to see everything that's in the building," Synovec said.

There also will be a 700-seat auditorium with an upper balcony, a 1,200-square-foot ballroom for formal events and lectures, and room for six retail stores.

"In the long run the money that we invest in this Marshall Center is going to bring up the value of our degrees by just raising the profile of our university," Abbasi said.

ABOUT THIS REPORT

This report is part of a multimedia project produced by a University of South Florida journalism class in cooperation with The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8.

Reporters Melissa Lee, Andy Nguyen and Shana Giafaglione contributed to this story. View a Snap photo gallery related to this story at TBO.com, keyword: Marshall.

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