Drawing the Campus Together: Loker Student Union Expansion Nears completion

After 22 months and $35 million, a ribbon-cutting for the expanded Loker Student Union (LSU) has been tentatively set for November 2, introducing 120,000 square feet of new vendor space, lounge and study seating, and event facilities.

The Union will be home to a 500-seat ballroom, conference rooms, a fine dining restaurant, a sports bar, lounge and study areas, and new office space for Associated Students, Inc., the Multicultural Center, Office of Student Life, and Toro Productions. New food vendors Heavenly Fish Palace, Villa Italian Kitchen, and Jamba Juice wil join returning vendors Subway and Dragon Express. A new coffee bar and full-service restaurant may be open by December, and a grand opening is slated for the first week of the 2007 spring semester.

“This is an exciting interactive facility that has a lot to do with bringing people together with food, organizations, and programs that this campus is going to be amazed to see,” says Richard Chester, director of commercial services.

Katherine B. Loker will have an office in the building. As a longtime friend of Dominguez Hills, she and her husband, the late Donald P. Loker, were instrumental in establishing the original LSU in 1968, and her $4 million gift was instrumental to the expansion project.

Finish work is beginning in many areas, landscaping is proceeding, furniture is being ordered, and food-court tenants are being finalized, according to LSU director
Kim Clark.

“I think this is finally going to give us a building that draws people together with gathering spaces that we haven’t had on campus,” she says. “I’m excited about its potential.”

- Joanie Harmon

Photos above, top to bottom: (L-R) Richard Chester, director, Commercial Services; Kim Clark, director, LSU; and Ed Swift, project manager, O'Connor Construction Management look forward to the opening of the expanded Loker Union.

The exterior of the LSU features floor-to-ceiling glass walls that will provide generous sunlight to lounge and study areas during the day, and an elegant view of the campus for nighttime events in the ballroom.