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For Peter Nardone, the project to transform the student spaces in the building’s basement started shortly after he took his position as general manager of 91����’s Union in 2017, and was asked to develop a vision for the renovation.

A soft opening of the spaces, now dubbed The Undergrounds, brings that vision to life Friday, Feb. 7, when the caution barriers will come down and students can “have at it!” he said.

After looking at what other unions do in their games/fun area, looking at the Association of College Unions International annual renovation and construction showcase, and gathering student input, Nardone started answering the questions: “What does the loungey stuff look like? What kind of seating do they have at our peer institutions? I wanted to get some kind of benchmark,” he said.

He put together some montages of imagery in common spaces and started to think about what must-haves were needed at 91����. “We needed more spaces for students to gather,” he said. “And it needed to be open and transparent. We needed to do more with signage, because we had nothing. We asked, ‘Are bowling alleys still popular?’ As we found out, they’re pretty unique, but the ones that exist seem to do well and are a focal point.”

Next steps included soliciting feedback from students on what kind of furniture would fit. “In fall 2018, I did a display of furniture to see what kind of seating students wanted and learned it all had to be wired for plug and play,” he said. “We looked at everything from low-back to high-back and color schemes. We learned that brighter is better. We had a suggestion box and a pin board for feedback and the vision started to unfold.”

Then came the actual design work and decisions about how everything would fit together. “We got into motion with the architect and really looked at the new study space — should it be one space or three unique spaces? — and everything else, including where will the Meal Plan office go? It took a lot of thought.

“So we decided to blow down some walls, create more open seating and spaces for more active learning, and also support for the Food Co-op and student engagement activities,” Nardone said. “We were looking for lighter and brighter and for it all to be branded accordingly.”

While the design and renovation work continued, Nardone began a re-branding of the University Union to The Union, and its basement area, that has taken the former Late Nite space known as the Undergrounds to a new level. “Why not call the entire area The Undergrounds with its own brand?” he said. “Now we have The Lanes, The Den, The Think Tank, The Food Co-op. … It all flows and is transparent and will cause more students to engage and stay a while.”

Nardone said the soft opening on Feb. 7 will include Late Nite activities and a showing of “The Joker.” An official grand opening is expected in the next few weeks after some areas are completely finished, such as the bowling alley and the Food Co-op, and more video screens are installed throughout the space.

And the walls are blank right now. “I’m hoping that over time we will build more of an identity,” Nardone said. “There’s an opportunity for more visuals over time.”