Six new facilities expected to join campus in the near future
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The movement of heavy machinery and the echoey clanks of metal can be heard all around campus as a handful of new construction projects are taking place. Students can expect to see many new changes around Liberty within the next few years as a variety of up-to-date facilities are in the process of being completed.
There are currently six new facilities actively under construction on-campus, many to help create more space for the large number of incoming students Liberty is seeing each semester. These projects are designed to accommodate students’ needs and range from a new dining hall and Commons dormitory to a new parking garage and
multipurpose center.
“We’ve heard the students loud and clear, and we’re working as hard as we can (for them). We’re here to make things better for the student population,” Dan Deter, vice president of major construction, said.
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Among many of the ongoing construction projects is a new dining hall. Stationed just across from Commons I and II, the new dining hall will keep the same donor name as the current one, The Food Court at Reber-Thomas, and will incorporate a few new helpful characteristics, such as more lanes to help the flow of student traffic, new food options and higher ceilings.
“I can’t wait for the students’ reactions when we open the dining hall because it’s going to be such a night-and-day difference from what they’ve had,” Deter said. “We’re making it bigger — this is a major project.”
The new Reber-Thomas is on track to finish construction in May and will be officially open to students in the fall of 2023.
Liberty is also adding a new parking garage, which will be located at Green Hall. The new garage will have the capacity to hold up to 1,500 parked cars — 1,300 more than the area can hold currently.
“We’ve got parking problems,” Deter said. “Our attendance has been elevated the last two years, and we’re projecting another high incoming freshman class next year. We need parking. The parking garage is absolutely going to be huge for students.”
The new garage will be open to students hopefully within the next 12-18 months.
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Commons will see an advancement as a fourth dorm will be joining the tall cluster of buildings gathered near the Vines Center. Publicly announced at Convocation just three weeks ago, Commons IV will look similar in appearance and style to Commons I-III.
“It’ll take us a good 18 months to get that built,” Deter said. “I think having more beds on campus is going to be huge, and Commons dorms typically fill up the fastest.”
Commons IV is expected to be ready for student move-ins during the fall
of 2024.
Junior Claire Sweeney shared her excitement about the upcoming facilities.
“I’m so pumped for the new Commons,” Sweeney said. “It’s also going to be nice to wake up and just walk across the street to the new Rot. Also, more parking will most definitely be so helpful and necessary.”
Also joining campus will be the Jerry Falwell Center, a place designed to give visitors a digital tour of campus. The new building will incorporate technologically advanced components to show guests Liberty’s campus, history and core values.
“One thing we’ve found is that Liberty’s grown to such a size that somebody comes for a visit and they can’t see everything — they can’t physically get everywhere in one day. This building will allow them to see more. It’s going to be kind of a beacon to the world to say that Liberty is what we were, and we’re going to continue to be what we are,” Deter said.
Other important projects include the construction of the Liberty Multipurpose Center — an indoor practice facility for all sports programs located next to the indoor tennis center — and the addition of five indoor batting cages to the softball facility.
“I love this university, and I love the fact that the administration and the board are both supportive to keep what we’ve been doing going,” Deter said. “What we’ve been doing has helped us increase enrollment, and we’re keeping at that same level going into the fall (of) 2023.”
Hess is the assistant news editor for the Liberty Champion