This past spring, many Fordham students were excited to witness the grand opening of the McShane Campus Center. Six months before the COVID-19 pandemic, Fordham began to take down what was originally the McGinley Center in order to make space for the new McShane Campus Center. In all, the new space is planned to contain a gym, pool, restaurants as well as various study spaces for students.

Phase 2 will include the creation of a brand new arcade, as well as a Grab-and-Go near the Marketplace. When walking past the McShane construction site, students can see that the exterior of the building, which will stand in between the McShane Center and the Rose Hill Gymnasium, is nearly completed.

However, the interior is not even close to being finished.

According to the Fordham website, Phase 2 should be completed by the end of 2023. The building will feature natural light due to glass ceilings and will be a major addition to the Fordham campus, as it is meant to provide more space for students to bond together or study.

During Phase 3, the interior space of what was originally the McGinley Center will include a variety of new features such as a new marketplace with new menu choices, a larger space for student meeting rooms used for clubs and organizations, a ballroom with the capacity to hold 800 people and a brand new strength and conditioning center for Fordham athletics.

Some students may find the project to be disruptive as a result of the sounds of construction and beeping trucks during early morning hours.

Residents of Loyola Hall said they are particularly affected by the noise, because that the building is located across from the newly-built McShane Campus Center.

“I heard the jack hammer going off at 9 a.m… I feel that construction is being done at the most inconvenient times very early in the morning, which disrupts students’ sleep,” said Aakarsh Sriran, GSB ’26.

Although some students may find the work to be disruptive, others do not seem to have any issue with it.

“I do not find the construction disruptive. If anything, I am excited to see what Fordham has in store for its students,” said Jakub Gul, GSB ’26.

“The construction doesn’t bother me too much. The project seems to be kept contained at McShane so that less noise is generated,” said James Reilly, FCRH ’26.

Various students said they hope that the construction will finally be completed by the end of the 2024 spring semester, as they said they are excited to see what the final project has to entail.

Many members of the Fordham community said they were pleased with the final result of Phase 1. As a result of the project, more study space was able to be provided and there was also extra space to host various panel events and club meetings.

Fordham posted a final result as to what the construction should look like on the official website and students can hope for completion by 2025.