Construction of Union's Technology Center Underway

Officials at Union College formally broke ground for the Edward H. Black Technology Center on Saturday, October 20. Construction of the Center, first announced this spring, will begin in early November, with completion expected by the end of September 2002. The two-story facility, designed by Lexington architectural firm Ekhoff, Ochenkoski & Polk, incorporates the clean, contemporary style befitting a tech facility with the traditional architecture of the Union campus. Adjacent to the Weeks-Townsend Memorial Library, the Tech Center will actually be connected to the Townsend annex via a second-floor glassed-in bridge.

One third of the first floor will comprise a training/computer lab, with the flexibility to be divided into two separate rooms. These labs will allow the College to provide professional development programs and training to students, faculty, staff and members of the community, freeing up the labs in the library for student use throughout the day and evening. A state-of-the-art audio/video studio, also on the first floor, will provide the equipment, software and training to produce video and audio clips, multimedia presentations and web pages. A College-operated cable channel will be used to broadcast announcements, informational and educational programs to both the campus and Barbourville communities. A repair center rounds out the first floor space.
The second floor will house server equipment for both the campus network and community organizations, as well as administrative offices for Union information services staff, including the director, network manager, web master and several application specialists.

The Edward H. Black Technology Center is part of a comprehensive facilities master plan initiated in 1997 and was made possible in part by a $1.5 million grant from the Small Business Administration.

Union College is a learning community dedicated to creating personal, intellectual and social transformation through the pursuit of wisdom, knowledge, service and spiritual growth.

October 22, 2001

[Top]