TSC renovations on the rise

As the end of the semester approaches, multiple changes in the Taggart Student Center are planned, particularly for the USUSA Senate Chambers and the Skyroom, the restaurant located on the fourth floor.

There are plans to change the carpets for the USUSA offices, updating them and removing asbestos.

The offices will be empty by Nov. 15, with the recarpeting beginning on Nov. 18.

The renovations  are expected to continue throughout winter break, with an estimated completion time of the beginning of next year.

In the meantime, academic senators and Executive Council officers will work in the Senate Chambers. They will also host their office hours within the chamber. Weekly meetings of the Academic Senate and the Executive Council will continue.

“They’re just really outdated,” said Paige Blair, public relations director for USUSA. “A lot of the offices, especially in the Student Involvement and Leadership Center, have already been renovated in the last couple of years, and so they just wanted to update a lot more of the offices so that they were nice and new for a lot of students to come in and work in.”

The main reason why the carpet change will take as long as it is suggested is for asbestos abatement.

“With this being kind of an older building, one of the safety precautions we take when doing things like carpet replacement is an abatement,” said Matthew Richey, USUSA president.  “It is a safety precaution to ensure that any changes that are made to the TSC don’t kick up any asbestos and result in injuries to students down the line.”

Although the levels of asbestos within the TSC are low and not considered dangerous to students’ health, changing and modifying the TSC might kick up asbestos. Abatement helps ensure students, faculty, staff and workers aren’t harmed by it. This lengthens the time necessary to change the carpet.

“Carpet change in a lot of other, newer buildings could take a couple of days max,” Richey said. “We’ll be doing this for a few weeks because of the processes that we have in place.”

The other major renovation project occurring in the TSC is the Skyroom. the restaurant on the fourth floor.

Pre-Covid-19, the Skyroom was open for buffet-style lunches on weekdays but frequently hosted university events. During the pandemic, the restaurant was shut down, open only for events.

At the time of publication, demolition work for the remodeling has begun, with an expected completion in early summer 2025. Progress for the renovations will be posted on the USU Dining Services website.

“The biggest problem we had up there was the Skyroom was trying to be a restaurant and an event center, and it didn’t do either one well,” said Alan Andersen, the executive director of Dining Services.

The Skyroom is planned to be a full-service restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday through Thursday, with Fridays and Saturdays only open for catering dinnertime events.

Students, faculty and staff with block meal plans can use them at the Skyroom. Aggie dining dollars will also be accepted.

Breakfast is planned to be styled like a European patisserie, and at 11 a.m. it will turn into a full-service restaurant.

Most of the planned menu is Italian, with appetizers like mushroom risotto, entrees like chicken parmesan or margherita pizzas and desserts like tiramisu.

A soup and salad bar will be added, alongside coffee machines and a bar that serves mocktails and non-alcoholic beers and wines.

Major overhauls of the layout are planned, including an enclosed veranda overlooking the campus and a refurbishment of the kitchen.

This restaurant is open for students, faculty, staff and the general public, with parking available to the public at the Big Blue Terrace. When customers use the parking terrace the first time, they are expected to pay for parking but will receive a code for future visits.

“We were really focused, and we’re trying to keep all our prices for a full-service restaurant to be between 10 and 15,” Andersen said.