{"id":29772,"date":"2009-11-13T20:02:08","date_gmt":"2009-11-14T03:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=29772"},"modified":"2018-01-30T20:04:44","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T03:04:44","slug":"save-the-date-event-center-unveiling-is-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=29772","title":{"rendered":"Save the date: Event Center unveiling is close"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In what looked to be a giant game of Jenga, contractors recently assembled 13,000 square feet of hardwood floors as the UCCS Event Center moves toward completion and a 4 p.m. Jan. 22 official opening.<\/p>\n

But this was no Milton Bradley-produced child\u2019s game. The pine planks are the foundation for everything from Mountain Lion Athletics to convocation or an oversized wedding reception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe floor actually floats, just a bit,\u201d Jim Martin, construction manager, GH Phipps Construction, said. \u201cThe vapor barrier that\u2019s between the wood and the concrete could actually line a pond it\u2019s so tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cgive\u201d is intentional, providing space for the region\u2019s notorious soils to expand as well as providing a shock absorber for the joints of Mountain Lion basketball and volleyball players. But the new Event Center isn\u2019t all about improving the campus athletic venue, though UCCS is sure to lose its title of smallest gym in NCAA as game seating moves from 420 to 1,224.<\/p>\n

In a back room, hundreds of pieces of carpet tiles will be stored. In about 20 hours, the hardwoods can give way to semi-plush carpet and the rancor of a basketball game to a banquet hall for 700 guests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis building truly is designed to maximize our event opportunities,\u201d Susan Szpyrka, associate vice chancellor, Administration and Finance, said. \u201cEverything is flexible here \u2013 the goals, the lighting, the seating. It\u2019s all designed to serve the university\u2019s many and varied needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Szpyrka walks through the building like a proud parent, pointing out amid the piles of equipment and dozens of workers such details as gold-colored walls intended to invoke school spirit, a visiting team locker room that is sans lockers, and restroom facilities where there are one-third more spaces for women than men.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver tried to go at halftime of a sporting event?\u201d Szpyrka asked. \u201cWe won\u2019t have that problem here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Szpyrka promises an exciting grand opening ceremony, calling it a celebration that the campus community should not miss and launching both a new venue for Mountain Lion sports and a reinvigorated conference business, part of a plan to increase UCCS revenues.<\/p>\n

\u201cSave the date,\u201d Szpyrka said. \u201cAnd get ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Susan Szpyrka, associate vice chancellor, Administration and Finance, explains a detail of the new Events Center to Jim Martin, construction manager, GH Phipps Construction, recently.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In what looked to be a giant game of Jenga, contractors recently assembled 13,000 square feet of hardwood floors as the UCCS Event Center moves toward completion and a 4 p.m. Jan. 22 official opening. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-29772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","tag-administration-and-finance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/eventcenter-large.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-7Kc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29775,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29772\/revisions\/29775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}