Spring union remodel will relocate Wells Fargo, other vendors

The Student Union Memorial Center will undergo renovations next semester to make room for additional seating and new restaurants.

The meal plan office, CatCard office, post office, and Wells Fargo bank will all move to the basement of the SUMC to form an integrated service center with a lobby space. This will enable these offices to have the same hours, said Joel Hauff, the interim director for the Administration and Business Office.

The bank will fill the location of the computer lounge, currently next to the Cellar Bistro. The lounge will then move across the hall, in between the games room and where the CatCard, meal plan and post office will be, Hauff added.

The change will be implemented while students are away for spring break and has been a part of a master plan for the SUMC, which UA officials have been working on for 18 months, Hauff said.

To fill the space being vacated by the offices, additional seating will be installed.

“That borders off the food court and we all know we need more seats there during lunch time,” Hauff said.

Enrique Noriega, a graduate student studying computer science, agreed about the need for additional seating.

“I think it would be great if we had more seats,” Noriega said. “Because usually at peak hours everything is so crowded that I need to buy my food and stand until somebody else leaves a table.”

The CatCard and meal plan office areas are to be converted into two additional food concepts. Hauff said the UA has been narrowing down options by looking at student survey data from the past, as well as what’s popular on other college campuses and in the food industry right now.

Danielle Novelly, a member of the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Senate, has been advocating for more healthy options in the union.

After Novelly met with Nick Adamakis, the director of Marketing Student Affairs & Arizona Student Unions, Adamakis said the UA has sent requests for proposals to different companies and restaurants, which will be voted upon by a committee. He also mentioned looking into local restaurants like Sauce, owned by Tucson company Fox Restaurant Concepts, but Novelly hasn’t heard about how much it has progressed.

“I think it’s really important because there’s not very many [healthy options] on campus,” Novelly said. “I mean there is Core. That’s healthy, but how many times can you eat a salad? I just think there is not enough for students who want to eat healthy.”