October 19, 2011
Ground broken for new Ethnic Cultural Center
A groundbreaking for the new Ethnic Cultural Center took place Oct. 12. The event was celebrated by student leaders, administrators from the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity, and others.
The new building will be located on the site of the original center, at the corner of Brooklyn Ave NE and NE 40th Street.
Representatives from the student legacy groups involved in the founding of the original Ethnic Cultural Center in 1972 participate in the ceremonial “dig” at the groundbreaking for the new building.Mary Levin
Representatives from the student legacy groups involved in the founding of the original ECC in 1972 participated in the ceremonial “dig.” Those groups included the Black Student Union (BSU), M.E.Ch.A. (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan), First Nations, Filipino American Student Association (FASA), and Pacific Islander Student Commission (PISC). The OMA&D Vice Presidents Student Advisory Board (chair Dalia Amin), ASUW (President Conor McLean and Director of Diversity Efforts Jonathan Winn), and the Graduate Professional Student Senate were also represented.
Joining the student leaders in the ceremony were OMA&D Associate Vice President Gabriel Gallardo, ECC Interim Director Maggie Fonseca and the project architects, Sam Cameron, 75, and Alex Rolluda, 89. Both Rolluda and Cameron utilized the ECC while students at the UW. Representatives from Andersen Construction were also on hand.
Sheila Edwards Lange spoke at the groundbreaking.
Prior to the demolition of the old building, the walls containing the historic ECC murals were extracted from the building and transferred to a facility where they will be stored under archival conditions until they are reinstalled in the new building.
The ECC currently serves approximately 70 student groups and has been a “home away from home” for students of color since its inception. The new building will be about 2 ½ times the size of the old facility. In the interim, the seventh floor of Condon Hall is serving as the location for ECC activities.
For more details visit the project website.
