Long-awaited student center at TCC has 'wow' factor

NORFOLK

Brenda Boone dropped in for breakfast at Einstein Bros. Bagels at Tidewater Community College's new Norfolk Student Center on Wednesday morning. That afternoon, she was back for a turkey sub, lemonade and chips at The Campus Cafe.

"I'll spend all my money over here," Boone told TCC President Deborah M. DiCroce, who was leading a tour of the curving brick, glass and metal building at 310 Granby St.

Boone, an adjunct professor, and the public got a peek inside the 55,000-square-foot, five-story downtown facility last week during a soft opening. Today, the start of TCC's summer semester, will mark the official opening of the $17.6 million center, paid for with student fees and $712,000 from the city.

The first floor and its eateries are open to the public, who along with students can lounge in chairs and log on to free Wi-Fi. The other floors are a haven for students, who weighed in on what they wanted to see. Many asked for study rooms. They got them throughout the building, in addition to other features.

"Wow," a student exclaimed as she stepped off an elevator into a shock of natural light, filtering in through large glass panes.

"That's what we keep hearing - 'wow,' " DiCroce said.

The student center is the first of its kind in Virginia for a community college, TCC officials said.

It's also the first of four student centers on TCC's campuses. The others will range from 57,000 to 89,500 square feet and are set to open by January 2013 in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth and Chesapeake. The combined cost of the four centers is projected at about $83 million. Student fees and a likely contribution from localities will fund the other three projects, TCC spokeswoman Laurie White said.

DiCroce said the idea for the centers came from students: "'We don't have a place to meet,' they said. 'Help!'"

Over the past 10 years, TCC's enrollment has grown by at least 51 percent, with about 46,000 students enrolled during the 2010-11 school year, White said.

"With many hours spent daily focusing on their education on campus, they need and expect appropriate student space and services," according to a fact sheet TCC created on the student center.

The center, the fact sheet says, is also "one of few at community colleges in the nation offering comprehensive student amenities."

The free Wi-Fi available to the public on the first floor is available throughout the building.

Other features include a basketball court; a fitness area with flat-screen TVs, treadmills, elliptical machines, free weights and weight-resistance machines; game consoles with furniture to chill in; computer kiosks to check email; an event space; and a room to work on iPads and Macs provided in the center.

"We're trying to bridge the digital divide in part by age and in part by socioeconomics," DiCroce said.

What's more, TCC students will now, for a fee, be able to drop their children off at a minding service while they are in class. And student groups, like the Student Government Association, will have their own dedicated space.

Coby Dillard, the Norfolk SGA's president, recalled the days the group had to scramble to find an available room.

"It makes life a lot easier," Dillard said of the center.

Cheryl Ross, (757) 446-2443, cheryl.ross@pilotonline.com