The plan to renovate the U of L Student Activities Center has been an ongoing process, one that has left some people wondering if it will ever be put into motion. While the discussion on what to include with the new upgrade has been complete for quite some time, the actual changes to be made are still a work in progress.

“SGA has been at the table for SAC renovations for quite some time now,” says SGA President Victoria Allen. “While we are somewhat at the mercy of the contractors in definitive dates being set, we have been there every step of the way to assure a new and improved facility.”

The SAC serves as a central meeting place for students and staff at U of L–a place to eat, study, and interact with their school community. In recent years, students have criticized the SAC for its disorganized layout and congestion at lunch time. With changes to the building’s layout, neither should be a problem anymore.

“There was talk of renovating the SAC completely last year, but people have to understand that this is a process that takes quite some time,” explains Anna Cecile Pepper, the SGA co-chair for the SAC renovations committee. “We are still in the early planning stages of the actual renovations, and a final agreement won’t be set in stone until next spring.”

While the renovations may have been put on hold for now, the upcoming changes will totally revamp the SAC as a bigger, cleaner and more comfortable meeting place. Some of the new improvements include: ballrooms, more outlets and phone chargers, an increase in conference room sizes, a brand new eating space and even an amphitheater.

“We realize that the SAC is a very important part of U of L’s campus and want to continue improving it in any way possible,” says Pepper.

For now, students and faculty will have to continue to wait until the spring semester to hear of any new announcements for the building plans, but Allen says that should not be a problem.

“We’ve taken this project very seriously from the start. SGA has even created a new committee for it (the same one Anna Cecile Pepper co-chairs) and the Top 4 sits in on all of their meetings. At the end of the day, we serve as the student voice for U of L and are doing everything we can to keep the plan moving ahead.”

As the planning goes on, a final date for the renovations being complete has been set for January 2018.

File Photo / The Louisville Cardinal