Meridian Community College’s new David H. Quave Student Life Center is a safe bet to become a popular a destination point, with a central campus location surrounded by Ivy Hall, Skaggs Field, Todd Library and Riley Health Building.

College officials are scheduled to dedicate the 8,800-square-foot facility at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 17. Visitors readily will see a well-planned facility for students, allowing them to mingle for the first time in years. MCC President Dr. Scott Elliot said the institution was in dire need for a place where students could interact.

“I’ve been here 19 years and the original student union was Montgomery Hall where the cafeteria is now and the student union environment evaporated,” Elliot said. “Our recreational spaces were captured for academic purposes. After all those years, we feel like we’ve got a true student union space. Plus, it’s a very good location. It’s also reasonable walking distance from residence halls.”

Before going in the front entrance, visitors instantly notice the new landscaping, including a new flower bed. Sidewalks provide easy access to other buildings.

Students will check in at a desk where they will present a student I.D. They instantly will see two pool tables and two ping pong tables, one which workers were busy assembling on Wednesday as they made final touches. A gaming area for Xbox players is situated in one comer, while another corner has a lounge area. Near the entrance to the right is a counter for laptop users.

To the left of the entrance are vending machines and a Keurig coffee station is also planned.

The 5,600-square-foot interior boasts six SmartTV screens, including one in the 14-seat conference room, which individuals have already begun to reserve for meetings. One TV adorns the wall outside on the 3,200 square foot porch area. The center has 12 tables with room for four chairs at each.

“We’re always in need of additional meeting space,” Elliot said. “It’s equipped with multi-media so you can make presentations. The priority of that room will be for student clubs.”

The porch area boasts blinds that can drop down in cold weather, much like the ones at Chili’s restaurants.

“We wanted to use all of the building year around,” Elliot said. “We think the porch is going to be a popular spot year round. We’ll have outdoor furniture out there after the grand opening. We’ll have closed circuit for baseball games and you can hear the live sound while on the porch.”

Elliot said he is proud of the fact that much of the work was done by MCC employees.

“Something I’ve been really proud of is these projects have been a total team effort,” Elliot said. “Our own IT people installed the computer equipment, while our telecommunications people installed the security cameras and business office is in charge of all materials. The Physical Plant people do all the clean up of the site. The facility is approximately $1.5 million, but would have been considerably more if not our own people had done some of the work. The taxpayers got a good bang for their buck with this.”

Along with the meeting room in the back are a storage area and Campus Life Coordinator Patrick Lovette’s office.

MCC begins classes on Aug. 22. Elliot said he hoped the facility would be open to students by that time.