What’s Coming Up In The JDUC?

This year we saw the completion of the skylight, new washrooms and the renovation of Wallace Hall. Whose idea was it to do those projects and who made the final decision?

In 2014 the AMS hired architecture firm Shoalts and Zaback to produce options for JDUC renovations. Shoalts and Zaback came up with five possible options that could be achieved within the $1.2 million budget. Students then had the chance to vote on which projects they preferred through an email survey, with the most popular being chosen for the renovation.  Students chose the walkway, the Wallace Hall renovation and the skylight.

Where did the $1.2 Million come from?

The $1.2 million resulted from the cancellation of phases 2 and 3 of the Queen’s Centre project. In 2009, it became clear that the two remaining phases of the Queen’s Centre project would not be completed due to lack of funding and as a result, the AMS did not transfer the student fee to the University.  The AMS and the University agreed that $500,000 of fees collected from students, along with a University contribution of the same amount, would be set aside towards a JDUC renovation fund. On top of this, the University contributed $200,000, bringing the total to $1.2 million that would be used towards improving the JDUC.

What’s next?

The JDUC should be a hub for student life – it should be a place you want to spend your time. Queen’s needs a world-class student life centre to support its world class student life. We want the JDUC to be a place where students can host full-scale conferences, have state-of-the-art club offices, meeting rooms, more study space, and a place to meet with friends.

There is money left over from the $1.2 million project and we will be putting it towards figuring out how we can substantially improve the JDUC. Together with the University the AMS will be investing the leftover funds in an architectural study of the JDUC. This will involve analysing the current state of the building, consulting with building stakeholders, and drawing up several options for what the new vision of the JDUC could look like. The results of this study will form the basis of a long-term significant renovation plan.

Moving forward, we want to create a plan to address the biggest needs and concerns that students have with the JDUC:

• More study and social spaces, club meeting rooms and offices equipped with the latest technology – and outlets for your laptop.
• More space to eat and socialize with friends.
• Create new spaces for businesses like Grocery Checkout, Luce Hair Salon, and the Campus Dentist.
• Rebuild and reimagine AMS services like the Brew, Tricolour, and P&CC from the ground up.
• Improve building accessibility to achieve full AODA compliance and make the entire JDUC usable to all students
• Improve the aesthetics of the build and bring in more natural lighting

As we continue planning the future of the JDUC we want to hear from students about what we should be considering. Send all suggestions and visions to !