The Michigan Union’s overhaul is complete after 20 months.
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At its founding, the Michigan Union was envisioned as a space for the campus community to relax, reflect, study, socialize, and, above all, come together. While the Union has not always lived up to its inclusive ideals—women have been allowed through the building’s front doors only since 1954—it has played host to more than a century of history. Its incomplete structure served as a barracks during World War I. It hosted protests against the Vietnam War and informal student discussions with Martin Luther King Jr. And, as any graduate knows, then-U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy defined the Peace Corps on the Union’s steps in 1960.
Affectionately known as Michigan’s “living room,” the Union’s 1919 building has also seen numerous updates and additions over the years. Few, however, were as dramatic as the most recent overhaul, which closed it for 20 months and completely transformed many of the building’s signature spaces, while restoring others to their former glory. This $86.6 million reimagining was years in the making, and it involved a full cross-section of the University, including staff, faculty, students, and alumni. Students themselves initiated the campaign in 2013 to modernize the Union, forming a group called Building a Better Michigan to advise on the project.
“It’s awesome seeing it come to fruition,” says senior Gwendolyn Wibbelman, who got involved as a freshman in 2016, following the lead of her older sister, Anna, ’17. With newly designed, flexible spaces for student organizations to strategize and cozy nooks for curling up with a coffee or some linear algebra homework, the Michigan Union will still be the heart of campus for years to come, says Wibbelman, now the student advisory group’s co-president. “I hope that alumni come and see all of our hard work—and find their own personal favorite spots.”
LET THE SUN SHINE IN: Michigan weather rendered the Union’s old, open-air courtyard unusable for most of the school year. But a graceful glass canopy now lets students and the rest of the campus community soak up daylight year-round, perhaps while enjoying a beverage from the new outpost of Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea, the Ann Arbor chain founded by Wei, ’90, and Lisa Bee, ’90. “It’s awesome to be able to look up and see the light come through,” says U-M senior Gwendolyn Wibbelman. “It’s my favorite part—it makes me so happy.”
A PLACE TO HANG: Several walls came down on the first floor, part of an effort to restore the 1919 floor plan and flood student spaces with natural light. Envisioned as inviting hangout spaces, the Willis Ward Lounge and South Lounge share a double-sided gas fireplace. “It’s going to really create a sense of, ‘Come in, sit down, connect!’” says Susan Pile, the Union’s director. While peace and quiet will still rule the Study Lounge across the hall, Pile hopes the Ward and South lounges will be lively. “A certain loudness is great! It’s a student union; it should be loud!”
STILL OUR UNION: The storied Billiards Room underwent a radical transformation, becoming a drop-in, coworking space that forms the core of the IdeaHub, but the Union’s century of history remains ever-present, even here. The wooden tabletops, for example, are repurposed lanes from a long-disused bowling alley that mid-20th century classes might remember from their own undergraduate years. And, despite the facelift, the Union remains ultimately recognizable. “You walk in and you’ll still know this is our old Union,” Wibbelman says. “It’s just that it’s been updated to serve our needs better today.”
THE PAST MADE MODERN: Like much of the building, the Union’s first floor is illuminated with replica fixtures more appropriate to the building’s original era than the circa-1980s lighting they replaced. While these lights may be an aesthetic throwback, they are fitted with modern LEDs, just one of many energy-efficient changes that, Union officials say, will add up to an estimated 37% less energy use building-wide. Meanwhile, the Campus Information Desk—once tucked into a corner—is now more prominent and welcoming to visitors.
BALLROOM BALCONY: The Michigan Union sprawls over 250,000 square feet, but much of it was previously carved into a warren of administrative offices that were off limits to students and the public. The renovation involved “capturing” a lot of this space, says Pile. Storage throughout the Union was examined and reorganized, with many items reused, donated to the Bentley Historical Library, or sent to Property Disposition to be sold. “You never realize how much stuff you have until you move,” she notes. “And we had never moved before!” Among the areas opened up by the reorganization is this one overlooking the Rogel Ballroom. The ballroom benefited from the building’s infrastructure updates but retained its original floor, lighting, and wood panels.
THE IDEA HUB: As they planned the renovation, Union officials learned from students that U-M social life today is built around the campus’s 1,600 student-run clubs and organizations. In fact, students’ chief complaint about the pre-renovation Union was a lack of space for student organizations, who had only a few rooms they could reserve for meetings. Now, most of the second floor has been re-envisioned as the IdeaHub, with space to suit student groups of every size and purpose.“It’s really amazing to see an entire floor dedicated to the work that students do in their organizations and recognizing that that work is just as important as their academic coursework,” says senior Sarah Hussain, an employee at the Union-based Center for Campus Involvement. “And as students come in and use it, and start to collaborate with other organizations, I think it’s just going to become more and more beneficial.”
THE PAST, REVEALED: The renovation may have brought the Union into the 21st century, but it also paid due respect to the past. The building’s original architects, Irving Kane Pond, 1879, and his brother, Allen Bartlitt Pond, 1880, were responsible for landmark Arts and Crafts buildings across the Midwest. For the Union, they envisioned an open, airy building dedicated to the needs of students. But subsequent renovations hid many of Pond and Pond’s original details, and their floor plan changed significantly with additions in the 1930s and 1950s. The new project revealed 100-year-old details, like the original terrazzo floors, long covered by carpet, and woodwork that had been unceremoniously walled over. It also preserved others for future generations, including a full restoration of the building’s 540 windows (consisting of some 21,528 panes of glass), which were made energy-efficient with the addition of modern storm windows.
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