By Lynelle Ward
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

University of Houston-Clear Lake will celebrate the start of construction on the new student services classroom building with a groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 19.

The ceremony, called the Big Dig, was planned as an informal ceremony to thank current and former students for their help in planning and financing the building. The ceremony will focus on the dedication of the ground.

"We are fortunate to have so many cultures represented at our university," said Darlene Biggers, associate vice president for student services and dean of students. "In the [ceremony] program booklet, we are going to describe how some cultures dedicate new ground and [at the site] we are going to perform parts of the ceremonies."

The events will begin in Atrium II at 11:30 a.m. with a procession, led by a group of musicians, walking to the building site. A yellow line will be painted on the ground outlining the perimeter of the future building.

"We are trying to get 300 students, faculty and staff to line up, hold hands and connect the perimeter of the building," Biggers said. "This will give people an idea of where it is and how much space there will be."

After the ceremony, a free lunch will be provided. Tickets are required for the lunch and can be picked up from the Student Life Office in advance.

The Big Dig is the first of two groundbreaking ceremonies; a formal groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled Feb. 21. "We wanted to have this first ceremony so students would not have to share the spotlight and before any digging was started," Biggers said.

The university began working on getting the new building in 1990. The vice president for student services asked the student government to get involved, said Sue Fellman, coordinator for student life leadership development.

Fellman, who was the president of the Student Government Association at the time, was part of the committee that worked on getting funding and support for the building.

"We worked on the referendum for about three months and we worked on the building for more than a year," Fellman said. "We were polling students, doing open forums on types of facilities students would like to see in the building and gathering information. We went to Austin and testified before the state legislature on the urgent need for a new building on campus to approve the state funds."

Fellman continued to work on the project after graduating from UH-Clear Lake.

"As a student leader, I was enjoying the benefits of things that those who came before me had made happen and I wanted to keep adding to the resources available to all student leaders," Fellman said. "That was my primary concern about being on every building committee we ever had to try to make that happen."

"We are inviting all the former student government leaders and all the students who served on the committee," Biggers said. "It will be so touching for all the people who worked on it."

The new building will have new classrooms, a computer lab and will house all student services offices. There will also be a small fitness center with showers and lockers that students will be able to use in conjunction with the human fitness and performance program.

"The building plans are almost complete and construction will begin in December," Biggers said. "The planned completion date is summer of 2004."

A formal groundbreaking, scheduled Feb. 21, is being planned to increase community support, said Dion McInnis, associate vice president for the Office of University Advancement. McInnis heads the planning committee for the event and fund raising efforts for the building.

"Through this office, we are developing a strategy to take [the building] from groundbreaking to opening and past in terms of increasing visibility for the university, uniting alumni and gaining community support," McInnis said. "There are various programs that we are doing to make sure we maximize our 30th birthday."

McInnis said the programs will highlight the opening of the building, the growth of the Alumni Association and the enhancement of the university Web site.

In addition, McInnis continued, the university has increased its annual fundraising efforts and recruited volunteers who are very proactive in the community.

"All these efforts work together to get the community aware and excited about the new building and the university," McInnis said. "This excitement leads to university support."

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