Nearly three years after Barnard demolished its McIntosh Student Center, the Diana is finally open for business.
While the formal opening ceremony will not take place for another two weeks, the Diana—the new student center on Barnard’s campus—is set to open Tuesday for the first day of classes.
According to Barnard media relations manager Alyssa Vine, classes will be taking place in the Diana on the first day of the semester, and Liz’s Café, a new coffee shop, will be opening. The Student Activities office will also be up and running.
On a hard hat tour in December, Lisa Gamsu, Barnard’s Vice President for Administration and Capital Planning, warned students that some elements of the facility might not be in place by January.
Though Vine said that audio/visual equipment for classrooms should be ready for use on Tuesday, she added that there are components of the building that are not yet complete, such as the second floor dining room and student store.
The grand opening will be celebrated in February, and will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony with students, faculty, staff, community leaders, University Trustees, and public officials.
Students from both Columbia and Barnard said they were excited about the building’s opening.
Construction “has been a bit frustrating,” Meredith Kurz, BC ’12, said. “But, at this point, I’m excited for the new space. We certainly need it on our side of the street.”
As a Columbia College Student Council member and representative to SGA, Brandon Christophe, CC ’12, said he is also eager to see the final results.
“I’m very excited and hope that, as a CC student, I will be given a lot of access to this building,” he said.
Beginning Tuesday, the building will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends. Access to the tunnel link will close nightly at 10 PM.
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