Pace University on Thursday opened the doors of its renovated Jeanette and Morris Kessel Student Center on its Pleasantville campus. The student center is one phase of the school”™s $120 million development project.
The school plans to sell its 35-acre Briarcliff Manor campus, which houses nearly 600 students that are bused to the main campus, and consolidate all school functions in Pleasantville. William McGrath, senior vice president and chief operating officer for the Westchester campuses, said the new development will welcome Briarcliff students and accommodate the school”™s growth. He said the transformed center is increasing social activity and bringing students together to work in groups.
“It is the central part of campus, the heart of the campus,” McGrath said.
Global firm EYP Architecture and Engineering designed the 9,500-square-foot addition to the 57,000-square-foot building, which also has an updated facade. The building addition includes new student lounges  ”“ one with a piano, a larger dining area with expanded options, a multipurpose room, student government offices, a dean”™s suite and more open seating areas. The building overlooks Choate Pond, which was environmentally restored and improved with landscaping.
More construction is underway to add buildings and make the campus more pedestrian-friendly with green spaces. One new residence hall is set to open in time for the fall semester and the other in fall 2016, McGrath said. The school is also renovating the athletic fields, which are expected to be finished by September. A new environmental center is slated to open in the fall.
President Stephen Friedman said the student center is the start of a new chapter for Pace and will pay substantial dividends for the school financially and for students’ success and satisfaction. He said after Pace”™s Manhattan campus renovated the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, applications to the performing arts program burgeoned.
“When we invest in ourselves, we are investing in this university,” he said. “The university grows and thrives.”
