On Thursday, April 19, 2007, ground was officially broken for the $52 million Tate Student Center Expansion and Renovation project. Members of the UGA administration, faculty, staff, and students gathered under a tent and in the warm sunshine to listen as special guests spoke about the importance of the new Tate Student Center to the future of student life at the University. Speakers included President Michael F. Adams, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Rodney D. Bennett, Student Government Association President Ali Gibbons, and Tate II Advisory Board Chair Andrew Gladden.

The first phase of the project will involve the construction of a multi-level parking deck on which the new student center building will be situated. The parking deck is tentatively slated to be completed by summer 2008. Construction of the new building is slated to begin in April 2008 with a grand opening scheduled for late in spring semester 2009. Renovations to the existing Tate Student Center will be ongoing during the remainder of 2007 and through the summer of 2008. Construction will further impact the existing building as it is joined with the expansion.

Over the two-year life of the construction, students, faculty, staff, and visitors are asked to be patient with the many inconveniences that accompany a project of such major proportions. Everyone associated with the project is excited and committed to providing the best-possible facility for the students of The University of Georgia.