Jacksonville University will start renovations this spring of the Kinne University Center banquet room to create more space for student use.
The Kinne Center houses the Riverview Cafe, Starbucks, the bookstore and post office.
JU will renovate the large banquet room “to create a more modern and functional space for students,” said Laura Phelps, senior director of communications.
It plans to transform the banquet space with updates that include new windows, flooring, lighting, furniture and 24/7 access.
JU expects to complete the project this fall, Phelps said.
The riverfront Arlington campus is at 2800 University Blvd. N.
“It is a student-focused facility right at the center of campus. The goal of this renovation project is to create an inviting, multipurpose space for students that would be accessible 24 hours a day,” Phelps said.
The city is reviewing a building permit for Balfour Beatty Construction LLC to remodel the space at a job cost of $510,603. Phelps said costs are projected at $800,000, but the final amount won’t be known until construction is completed.
Plans show an exterior renovation and some interior work. The banquet room is 3,500 square feet.
Phelps said the project emerged before the COVID-19 pandemic when the university surveyed students as part of a strategic planning initiative.
“Many students said they would like to have more space on campus where they can meet, eat, study and socialize between or after classes,” she said.
“It was also important for them to be able to access it day and night; a flexible space that fits their schedules.”
JU was evaluating existing space on campus when the pandemic hit and the project was paused.
“Nonetheless, the original objective was accomplished through necessity,” Phelps said.
To allow for social distancing within its dining facilities, the university created an overflow eating area in the Kinne Center banquet room that primarily was used for events. It is adjacent to the Riverview Cafe.
“Students began using the space just as JU leadership had envisioned – eating, socializing and studying at all hours,” Phelps said.
“This confirmed that the banquet room is the right place for the project, and what better location than the building named for the late Dr. Frances Bartlett Kinne, who dedicated her life’s work to serving students at this university.”
The center, built in 1957 and expanded in 1986, has long been named for Kinne, who joined JU as a humanities professor in 1958.
Kinne founded the College of Fine Arts in 1961 and served as JU president from 1979-89, then chancellor and chancellor emerita until her death in May 2020 at the age of 102.
The center is 32,678 square feet. The main part is one story, but the back side of the building, which faces the river, has a lower floor that includes the post office and bookstore. They are accessible from outside doors.
