Story by Rick Vacek
Photos by David Kadlubowski
GCU News Bureau
It’s another busy summer at Grand Canyon University – for the construction crews.
The Facilities Department and Pono Construction have 50 projects on their to-do list, and a half-dozen are major undertakings that will directly impact student life in the fall semester.
There’s a lot of ground to cover, literally and figuratively, so let’s put together the facts and figures:
Colangelo College of Business Building
The 150,348-square-foot, L-shaped structure, at the corner of Colter Street and 30th Drive on the east side of campus, will be the same shape as the Technology Building on Camelback Road east of Ethington Theatre. The first two floors, housing four lecture halls, classrooms and offices, are scheduled to be ready by August, and the top two floors, for additional offices and classrooms, should be done by October.
Canyon Activity Center
Right down 30th Drive from CCOB will be a 135,000-square-foot building with 10 multipurpose courts and large meeting spaces. It also will have a separate room dedicated to the Thundering Heard Pep Band.
Missouri Avenue parking garage
It’s identical in size (2,400 spaces) to two other campus garages -- the Camelback East Garage at 29th Avenue and the 35th Avenue North Garage at the intersection of Missouri. There will be 2,000 spaces for students who live on campus and 400 for CCOB faculty/staff and visitors to the Canyon Activities Center.
Cactus/Jerome Apartments
The two newest student residences are located south of the Diamondback Apartments and are identical in size (six stories, 600 beds, 242,105 square feet each) and style (each unit has four single-person bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a communal living area).
The new Lope Shop
As featured recently in GCU Today, the Lope Shop is taking over the Fleming Building and will feature five times as much retail space as its previous spot in Prescott Hall.
Pita Jungle coming to Lopes Way
So what’s replacing the Lope Shop in Prescott? Healthy-eating enthusiasts will be thrilled that it’s Pita Jungle, which will adapt its menu to a walk-up style just as it has done at Scottsdale Fashion Square. It will be hummus heaven.
Other new eateries
With the east side of campus now populated by 2,400 residents, there was a need for more food choices over there. They’ll be Chick-fil-A, GCBC and Fresh Fusion, all located in Diamondback.
Gate connecting main campus to east side
The main access point to and from the east side will feature three ingress/egress points instead of one: an entrance and an exit for pedestrians and a separate opening for golf carts.
Theology, Nursing trading places
The College of Theology is relocating to the current College of Nursing and Health Care Professions (CONHCP) Building, clearing the way for CONHCP to consolidate all of its operations in the Natural Sciences Building, where it already had classrooms and laboratories.
Fine Arts will get its own building
The College of Fine Arts and Production (COFAP), previously housed in Ethington Theatre, Building 18 and the Colter office complex, is being consolidated in the old Colangelo College of Business Building right across from Ethington.
GCU Ballpark completion
In addition to permanent seats replacing the temporary white seats in the grandstand, 1,000 seats will be added down the left- and right-field lines – just a few feet from the field – in a style similar to many Major League Baseball parks.
Coming in August 2019
There will be a lot more to do after the current wave is completed.
- One of the oldest buildings on campus, Building 18 (opened in 1984), is expected to be demolished during Christmas break and will be replaced by a four-story building that will house Admissions and Student Advisement, a new Antelope Reception Center, student lounges (international, military, commuter) and video/photo production facilities.
- Two more apartment buildings will go up next to Cactus and Jerome.
- The storage facility at 31st Avenue and Camelback Road, recently purchased by the University, will be demolished, and another parking garage will go in that space.
Contact Rick Vacek at (602) 639-8203 or [email protected].
