For a video tour of the renovated portion of the Student Union, click here.For a slideshow of photographs of the renovated portion of the Student Union, click here.Blue inset lights line the ceiling, curved glass rails wrap around the seating area enclosing tiered rows couches and chairs while motorized projector screens descend from the ceiling. This is not the frumpy ’70s style Union students have become accustomed to, but a look at what the Union is to become.The $84 million saga of Student Union renovations has lasted longer than most students have been on campus, but will reach a milestone with the opening of the Live Oak Lounge next week.The Live Oak Lounge on the first floor of the Union will be completed by the end of the week and will be opened Monday said Ken Bueche, associate director of the Union.Students will enter the lounge on the first floor of the Union down the central hallway that goes past the barber shop.The Lounge features three tiers of chairs, tables and couches facing three retractable projectors that will display movies or TV programming. There are also two large flat-screen plasma TVs for seats in the lounge that don’t have a clear view of the projector screens. The area also features wireless Internet and power outlets for students to use with their laptops, Bueche said. “In the Union, we have the big lobbies and open spaces but after looking at other schools’ student unions, we noticed we didn’t have any small spaces for students,” Bueche said. “Now we have a smaller, more quiet space out of the way for students.”Monday will also see the opening of Einstein Bros. Bagels in the lounge, and other features will open in the coming weeks. The Union’s McDonald’s will complete its move down the hall to the lounge area and open by the second week of August, Bueche said.The lounge will also feature a billiards room featuring video games and a jukebox. Bueche said the billiard tables should come next week, and the room can open in the first week of August.The Union’s ATM machines will also be relocated to the corridor between the lounge and the back entrance of the bookstore and activated July 31.A new computer lab featuring 24 computer units with printing capabilities will open next week.The lounge will open Monday at 7 a.m. and will close at 9 p.m. with the rest of the Union.”The lounge, West Hall and new computer lab are designed where we can leave them open 24 hours [a day],” Bueche said. “Once we feel it is safe, we will open it 24 hours, and if students use it for 24 hours and funding is still available, it will stay open 24 hours.”The south entrance to the Union and the lounge are designed with cameras and student ID swipe card access so entrances into the area can be monitored for safety reasons.With the opening of the lounge on Monday, the southside patio facing the Memorial Oak Grove will be opened for to students. For the last two years, the grove has been fenced off while construction is ongoing. Until proper lighting is installed in the grove, students will only be allowed on the patio area, and the grove will remain fenced off. Bueche said lighting to ensure safe night access for students should be installed before the fall semester starts, giving students a south entrance to the Union.Student Union Business Manager Dave Besse said he couldn’t put an exact price on the lounge, but said the renovations to the Union will cost $83,693,000 in their entirety.”Go to other school’s Union Web sites,” said Cherie Teamer political communications senior. “They have a lot of things for students to do. Our Union is really behind so the money is all about attracting new students and the betterment of the University.”Besse said $73,440,000 came from bonds and borrowing and $10,250,000 came from self generated funds and student fees. Those student fees have been assessed for years and will be assessed as a $89 charge on students’ fee bill in the fall semester.”I’m really mad because I have been paying for it, but I won’t be here to enjoy it,” said Trey Duplechaie, general studies senior. “They probably should have just charged incoming students.”While the south side of the Union is beginning to look complete, the north and west sides are still under construction. Bueche said the west side of the Union is serving as a staging area for contractors continuing construction in the Union.Bueche said the theatre is being extended slightly on the north side of the Union and being renovated for better sound reduction. The construction on the theatre should be complete in April 2010.”After this [Live Oak Lounge], the biggest thing is the food renovations,” Bueche said. “Chartwells is going to spend about $2 million renovating and adding new places to the Tiger Lair.” Besse said these renovations will take place beginning during December break and should be completed before August. There will be changes to the Tiger Lair serving area making it slightly larger, and tables and booths will be added to the eating area similar to the 459 Commons.—-Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]