The Gatton Student Center is a student activity center for meetings, conferences, meals, recreation, and shopping for students on the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

campus in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. The building houses University of Kentucky's student service offices, as well as many dining and recreational facilities. The original building was constructed in 1938 and remodeled in 2018.

History

Before being renamed to "Gatton Student Center" in 2018, the original

's student center was completed in 1938; with renovation additions happening in 1963 and 1982. Beginning in 2014, the University of Kentucky Student Center would undergo a series of remodels and expansions resulting in the Gatton Student Center, a US$200 million, 330,000 square foot building. Construction of the Gatton Student Center was finalized in 2018, two years after its projected grand opening in 2016. The original 1938 ballroom and Great Hall, which feature wrought-iron rails and decorations made by UK engineering students in the campus forge, are being preserved. They were designed by architect Ernst Johnson; many other buildings designed by Johnson for the University have since been torn down and replaced. The most recent renovation to the building, beginning in 2014, The Gatton Student Center was designed by Omni Architects company and Perkins + Will. Foodservice design was provided by Tipton Associates, APAC.

The building

The Gatton Student Center is named after Bill Gatton, an

alumnus Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

of the

; he donated $20,000,000 to fund the project, so the building was named after him. It includes a

dining hall A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a schoo ...

, a 30,000 sq. ft bookstore and an

Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad ta ...

. It also houses the Office of Student Organizations and Activities, the Center for Student Involvement, the Student Activities Board, the Student Government Association, the Center for Community Outreach, DanceBlue, the WRFL radio station, the Office of LGBTQ* Resources and the Martin Luther King Center. Archived 31 March 2020. The Alumni Gym Fitness Center building was a

basketball court In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor ...

from 1924 to 1950; it was remodeled in 1937 and again in 1982. It has over 200 pieces of exercise equipment.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.uky.edu/gattonstudentcenter/ University of Kentucky 1938 establishments in Kentucky