Nebraska East Union renovation update

To All Faculty, Staff and Students,

Renovation of the Nebraska East Union is beginning. The initial work that you have been seeing has generated questions about availability of the services offered by the NEU. This is a phased project, so some areas will be closed to public access at various times, and some services will be unavailable — either for brief periods, or for the entire length of the project. Information you may find useful:

1. A temporary grab-and-go food store will open sometime in October to replace the Corner Deli (which will be closed, and which I personally will miss);

• The Corner Express will be on the second floor of the East Campus Union just outside the entrance to the East Campus Café & Grill. It will open on Monday, October 8 and be open from 7:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Monday – Friday, serving coffee, muffins, bagels, sandwiches, and soup.

2. The bowling alley will remain open through the end of the bowling season;
3. Temporary walls will be installed on the lower level as construction begins on the new dining services area;
4. The west entrance on the atrium level will close in the coming weeks, leaving the only entrance to the building from the north;  and
5. The current dining services (second floor) and meeting space including the Great Plains Room will remain open through the end of the current academic year.

The project will present all of us with challenges at times as we co-exist with the ongoing construction, but we are certain you will be thrilled with the new, improved Union. The new dining hall located on the first floor will offer student meal plan options as well as a variety of  à la carte food options for students (including those not on meal plans), staff, faculty, and community members. Other features will be a fully licensed Starbucks, a convenience store with grab-and-go food options, a copy shop, expanded lounge and gathering areas, better access from the outside, and a larger, more user-friendly Great Plains room.

The CASNR Student Advisory Board is planning to hold an open forum session in the near future to share the plans for the renovated union and answer questions you may have.  Additionally, the Nebraska Unions staff is developing a website that will be updated weekly with construction information and should be launched in the near future.  Please let me know if you have comments or questions— and thanks for your patience as we look forward to enjoying the fully renovated Union in the fall of 2020.

Ron