The Floyd campus Student Center is now open for student use and student life events.

John Spranza, director of student life on Floyd campus, said, “I’m very pleased with the outcome of the project. I think it looks great.”

(From left) Student Lauren Glass, friend Zach Daum, and student Jennifer Burks study in the Student Center. Photo by Anna Douglass.

Todd Jones, vice president of student affairs, stated that the Solarium and Game Room were not part of the Student Center project and will be renovated by Georgia Highlands’ Plant Operations.

The renovation of the Floyd Student Center experienced several setbacks over the past few months. The estimated finish date was Nov. 30, but that deadline was not met.

“Renovation projects almost always take 20 percent longer than anticipated due to unforeseen conditions,” said Phillip Kimsey, director of plant operations.

There are many obstacles and processes the workers have to deal with when it comes to construction. “In the construction of this building, we had several unexpected delays,” Jones stated.

There were some problems like the power outage at the beginning of the fall semester and there was the small fire that occurred in the roof.

The fire was not anything to cause alarm. It was controlled, put out quickly and did not cause much damage.

Yet there were also several “behind the scenes” issues that needed to be dealt with.

According to Jones, there was a moisture problem around the building, there was a delay in the metal framework, the workers encountered bad soil that was unfit for the foundation and the original foundation was not correctly shown in the blueprints.

These were only some of the issues causing the one- month delay.

Spranza also said there are still a few details in the Student Center that are in the process of being completed.