The new Student Union building had its soft opening Monday, February 3 at the Los Medanos College Pittsburg campus.

The Student Union was expected to open the first day of the spring 2020 semester but was delayed until two weeks after the deadline due to complications with some of the vendors.

While the building is now open to students and staff: the main hallway, bookstore, conference spaces and food service program on the first floor are still under construction. Students will still be able to access these facilities where they are currently located in the College Complex until the construction in the new building is completed.

Because there are many moving parts in the construction of each room, there is no expected opening date for any of the above facilities. The entirety of the Union building is predicted to be complete by the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, at the latest.

“We don’t want to disrupt the students who are currently in service at the bookstore and so on, so we’re waiting to integrate some things until later on,” said Carlos Montoya, President of the Safety and Security Committee.

Some of the delays are a result of complications with new and entertaining items, all of which are intended to be in the new hang out area for students. 

“We had an issue with the ping pong table for the student lounge; it came to us broken. So we had to send that back and get a new one, which is hopefully here soon,” said Montoya.

Despite the delay of some features in the student lounge, there is already a foosball table, TVs, a variety of comfortable chairs, a wall graphic and more set up for student use. 

Furthermore, the second floor of the Student Union is finished and all facilities are open for use. Student programs, such as Umoja, Student Services, LMCAS and so on, are currently working to move into their new conference room on the second floor as well.

“All of the groups who are moving into the Union Building right now are going to result in a lot of energy in the building for a few weeks. All of the groups operate very differently, and I’m very excited to see them all working together and moving in,” said Montoya.

Some students who are greatly involved in the student community at LMC, such as Thyra Cobbs — a member of LMCAS, Umoja and Honors, have benefited greatly from the construction of the new building already. 

“It is nice to have some of my major communities in the same building,” said Cobbs. “I think there was definitely a huge benefit for Umoja. Our old room was very small and the new room is spacious and open. The new meeting room for LMCAS and student organizations look professional so I am very happy and impressed. I can’t wait to see everyone enjoying the new Student Union later this semester,” said Cobbs.

The construction of the Student Union building will soon be finished, come the final updates and add ons. After years of effort and $61.8 million in construction fees, the majority of the Union building is complete and open to both students and staff.

The current Student Life hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., and Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.