Demolition of the Driscoll North Student Center has begun. As part of DU’s Phase 1 Denver Advantage redevelopment plan, a new Student Commons will rise in its place. Student and family support services have been moved to The Hub or South Driscoll in the interim.
It only took a few days to demolish most of the former structure before a surprisingly heavy winter storm followed.
The new building will be completed over the next two years so get ready for traffic headaches along Evans Avenue.
Situated between Evans Avenue and Sturm Hall, the building will connect with the current walkway over Evans Avenue and support student activity, clubs, and Student Life. As with the new Career Achievement Center building, the design will be more contemporary and open to provide additional space for meetings and student-led events. And, like the Career Achievement Center, the roof will also have green space as required by a recently passed Colorado construction law for commercial buildings and pavilions which will provide elevated views of the campus and the mountains to the west.
I remember when the Driscoll Center opened in 1983-84. It was a vast upgrade from the late 1940s vintage DU Student Union, which is now the South Building of Driscoll (and amazingly, still outlived the North Building, which was 35 years old when demolished this past week.)
And while it was an upgrade back then, the Driscoll Center was never really the great student union that DU students deserved. Except for the bridge, It was poorly designed even then, and they didn’t have much money left over from construction overruns to develop the internal spaces, services, food options or experiences that should have gone into the place.
I hope the new student commons will be the dynamic gathering place that DU deserves….