Five student-related groups will have, as of June 2011, a new home at 626 Thurston Ave. The new occupants of the facility, formerly known as Alumni House, include the Asian/Asian American Center (A3 Center), which has been located in Willard Straight Hall since its creation in July 2009.

The building will also house:

• part of the Office of Minority Educational Affairs (OMEA), now in Barnes Hall;
• the African Latino Asian Native American Students Programming Board (ALANA), now in Willard Straight Hall;
• the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center, now in Caldwell Hall; and
• the Alumni-Student Mentoring Program, now in Caldwell Hall.

"These groups have very interesting and energetic staff who will really benefit by being close to one another in this environment," said Kent Hubbell '69, the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students. "The idea is that housing these groups in this one building will result in a very interesting constellation of programming."

The building has been nearly vacant since the spring, when most Office of Alumni Affairs staff moved their offices to Seneca Place in downtown Ithaca to join the rest of their division.

The administration had offered to temporarily house the A3 Center at 14 South Ave., in university-owned student housing off Stewart Avenue. "However, it was decided that everyone would be better served to wait for more suitable and strategically located accommodations, and Alumni House proved to be just such a facility," Hubbell said.

At 626 Thurston Ave., the A3 Center will occupy the ground floor. All the groups will share the common facilities on the main floor, which include a multipurpose conference room, two unisex bathrooms, a kitchenette, a library and an open area for social events. OMEA will take up the third floor. (OMEA's New York State Opportunity Programs and Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program/Cornell Professional Opportunities Program will remain in Comstock Hall until January 2011, when they will move to a location to be determined.) The fourth floor will house the LGBT Resource Center, ALANA and the Alumni-Student Mentoring Program.

ALANA and Assistant Dean of Students Patricia Nguyen, who directs the A3 Center, will continue to maintain offices in Willard Straight Hall.

The 8,000-square-foot building will undergo a $1.1 million renovation before the new occupants move in next June. A combination of university resources will pay for the costs, including alumni donations, funds from the Division of Facilities Services, and contributions from the Office of the Provost and from Student and Academic Services, Hubbell said. The upgrades will include bathrooms that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, an elevator to all four floors, carpet and paint. The renovations will go out to bid in the fall, and construction will likely begin in January 2011, Hubbell said.

The building at 626 Thurston Ave. was built in 1928 as a fraternity house and later was home to a sorority chapter. The university bought the building in the 1960s to accommodate the offices of alumni affairs and related programs. It had housed the Office of Alumni Affairs for more than 30 years.