Big upgrade from a bus stop: Sac State starts work on $6.8 million Welcome Center
More than 70 years after it first opened, Sacramento State is getting a proper “front door.”
That’s what university leaders are calling the upcoming Welcome Center — a two-story building and plaza that will serve as Sac State’s new hub for visitors, campus tours, media events and more.
The school’s current welcome center is a bus stop, university President Robert Nelsen quipped Thursday.
Nelsen and others spoke at a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday while workers hammered away on the $6.8 million project , which is expected to open during the spring 2020 semester.
“It’s a space where we say, ‘Hi.’ Where we say, ‘You’re welcome at Sac State. You’re gonna be part of our family. We can’t wait to have you as our family,’” Nelsen said.
The center is among the most recent developments for a university looking to establish its reputation beyond that of a commuter school. On the other side of campus, construction is well underway on a $90 million science complex that will include a planetarium.
The new Welcome Center will be adjacent to the university’s newest parking structure, both of which are near the arboretum at the J Street entrance. It will also house the new office for the university’s transportation services, UTAPS, which is currently based off the main campus on Folsom Boulevard.
“It’s safe to say that up until this point, the first point of contact that any newcomer to our campus has is one of our friendly squirrels,” Associated Students Inc. President Noel Mora said. “And if anything, I’m really relieved that we’re gonna be able to take that stress away from them, and have a physical welcoming location.”
Nelsen said Thursday that future priorities for development include expanding on-campus housing, renovating some of the more dated lecture halls and adding a new engineering building with modern labs.
The welcome center is being built by West Sacramento-based Clark Pacific, which finished construction on the university’s fifth parking structure last spring.
“We should’ve had it a long time ago, but we’re finally getting it now,” Nelsen said.
This story was originally published March 21, 2019 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Big upgrade from a bus stop: Sac State starts work on $6.8 million Welcome Center."
