Fan-tastic :: Wessex Scene Online

Fan-tastic

27th September 2002
Nigel Massen

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Q:What have Michael Jackson and the Students’ Union got in common?

A:They’ve both had a dramatic face-lift.
Southampton University Students’ Union (SUSU) is putting the finishing touches to a Ł5.6 million makeover that will offer three new bars, a cinema, upgraded food services and a bigger, shinier concourse. The feather in the cap of the development is a new nightclub - ‘The CUBE’.

The plan to upgrade the facilities at SUSU has been in the pipeline for some years as the original building was built in 1965. Recent activity follows a memo circulated in late 2000 noting “...this building, particularly the services, are long past their sell-by date...”. Numerous funding meetings and project proposals later, the University agreed to invest Ł4.3m with the Union paying the remaining Ł1.3m. The comprehensive redevelopment will increase the size of the concourse, which will open onto a new glass staircase providing access to all floors. There will be a larger reception area and an Internet café enabling students to keep in touch while in the Union. What was the ballroom has been transformed into a pub-style bar - ‘The Bridge’, which will feature bar food and comfy chairs to create a relaxed, pipe-smoking atmosphere. The main bar will take on more of a sports-bar style with a large screen for sporting events and a pool table for the sharks among us. There is also talk of some soft coverings to relieve the long-suffering users of the hard wooden seats.

The CUBE will have a capacity of 860 average sized people and will be open until 2am up to four nights a week. It will house two new bars, imaginatively named SUSU Bar 1 and, you’ve guessed it, SUSU Bar 2. The development of a purpose-built nightclub should bring to an end the shabby efforts of previous years, “hand on heart, it should be the best club in Southampton” claims SUSU President Tim Rowlandson. Drinkers at all bars are also promised some drinking-up time this year, with the end of the previous policy of shutting the bars early and kicking everyone out dead-on 2am.

Well, enough of the good news! The bad news is that building on the CUBE is running late, about 8 weeks give-or-take, and won’t be open for fresher’s week (everything else will though). Delays have mainly been due to budget wrangling but there have also been some comic problems on-site; no one drew on the plans where to put the crane, which is slightly worrying. Whilst digging a hole for the crane the contractors found a large concrete block, which turned out to be a huge concrete block needing to be removed. This, and other problems, have eaten into the 4 week buffer between completion and fresher’s week and has added another four weeks to the total project time. A final deadline for the CUBE has now been set in time for the grand opening nights on the 8th & 9th of November.

Another potential flaw in the whole scheme is the cinema; it’s the same building as The CUBE. The purpose built club is also the purpose built cinema; this is magically achieved with folding seats. This may lead to competition between cinemagoers and clubbers both wanting entertaining of a weekend. I think it’s safe to say that if you eating popcorn you’ve wandered into a film night and if it’s dark and you’re holding a pint, well, you better start dancing.