A groundbreaking ceremony for the 32,000-square-foot Welcome Center at Missouri University of Science and Technology will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday, April 20, at the Welcome Center construction site on campus. The campus community and the public are invited to the event. The building will cost approximately $25.75 million and will be funded through a combination of private support and university funds.

Guests will be greeted in the atrium of the Havener Center on the Missouri S&T campus and escorted to the construction site. Guests should consider wearing footwear appropriate for a short walk and a busy construction zone.

When completed, the Welcome Center will serve as the first stop for visitors to the university and as a showcase of what S&T offers prospective students, says Missouri S&T Chancellor Mo Dehghani.

“Beginning with its inception, the Welcome Center has been designed to show visitors we are glad they have arrived at Missouri S&T,” says Dehghani. “The building will provide much-needed event spaces, presentation rooms, meeting rooms and offices for our admissions staff. It will also provide visitors the opportunity to connect with various parts of the S&T experience through activities that are hands-on and interactive.”

Speaking at the ceremony will be Michael A. Williams, chair of the University of Missouri Board of Curators, University of Missouri President Mun Y. Choi, and Dehghani. Members of the Board of Curators will also participate in the event. The curators’ spring meeting will be held in the Havener Center immediately following the ceremony.

The Welcome Center is scheduled for completion in Fall 2024. While space for events and staff is an important component of the building, welcoming new and future students is at the heart of the Welcome Center. In addition to the state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment and interactive and stationary exhibits throughout, the center will host events including Miner Immersion, a day for future S&T students to meet with faculty, staff, and current and future students, participate in a design project, and learn about campus activities and organizations, and Miner Welcome Bash, an interactive celebration that offers enrolled first-year and transfer students a closer look at what S&T has to offer.

In addition to its spaces that foster engagement and connection, the Welcome Center reflects S&T’s commitment to sustainability by using the newly constructed geothermal system plant and associated well fields in the Arrival District to heat and cool the building, which will reduce the consumption of water and energy.

The Welcome Center will be a key component of S&T’s Arrival District. Currently under construction, the Arrival District will connect the entry from Interstate 44 to the campus through a series of landscape and building projects. The center will be located directly east of the Innovation Lab, which is scheduled to open this fall, and south of Harris Hall.

About Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System and located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 101 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top 10 universities for return on investment, according to Business Insider. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.