Student center opens on the campus of Wilkes University

Sordoni Construction Services, Forty Fort, Pa., has completed construction on the 84,000-sf University Center on Main, a student services and athletic/recreational facility that features a 29-foot rock climbing wall, three tennis courts, three basketball courts, a track, and locker rooms. Designed by Kansas City, Mo.-based Gould Evans, the facility also re-orients the campus toward the river and Wilkes-Barre's business district with the goal of revitalizing the downtown area and making the campus more green and pedestrian friendly.

The facility is the first of numerous projects planned for the university. Wilkes has begun renovations of the Delaware and Chesapeake residence halls, adding beds, air conditioning, a center skylight, new furniture, and wireless capabilities. The university is also exploring construction of a new building for the sciences and converting the Stark Learning Center into dormitory space. Renovations to the Darte Center and Bedford Hall are also included, as are plans to improve and expand the athletic fields, Munson Fieldhouse, and the Marts Center.