The newest addition to the A&T campus is the Alumni-Foundation Event Center.

The space is 30,000 square feet, with 18,000 square feet completely dedicated to the event areas. The areas include a large ballroom, two conference rooms and a boardroom. The center is also the new base for Alumni Affairs.

The space cost approximately $5.5 million with funds allocated by the University Foundation. The center was built in approximately nine months.

To be eligible to hold events at the new center, the corporation or individual hosting the event must have ties to A&T. To rent out the ballroom for an event would cost $2,000 for a non-ticketed event and $3,000 for a ticketed event. Yet, these prices do not include housekeeping and media packages, which can also be rented through the center.

The center also provides a catering team for events, for a fee, which is staffed by Sodexho.

The ballroom can host up to 800 people for a sit-down event. The conference rooms, which can hold about 15 people, can be rented for $55 for half-a-day and $100 for an entire day. In addition, the board room, which can hold about 26 people, can be rented for $80 for half-a-day and $150 for an entire day. All rooms are Internet accessible.

Any person or group interested in the space would have to contact Gwen Brincefield, the marketing coordinator for the center, and Ali Mateen, the scheduler for the center.

Mateen said he believes that the new center is fulfilling a need on A&T’s campus.

“Before the opening of the Alumni-Foundation Event Center the only other space available for hosting events was Stallings Ballroom, which is always booked. This space provides more space and more amenities for hosting events,” Mateen said.

The hope is that the center will hosts such event as lectures, conferences, wedding receptions and corporate meetings.

Al Barnett, the finance manager and now board member, said he has high hopes for the center and what it will bring to A&T.

“I think that the center will foster not only stronger relationships with the alumni but also the community,” Barnett said.

With the addition of this center, alumni and others connected to A&T will have a large space in order to host events. Organizations are already taking advantage of the new space. For example, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. chose the event center as the site of their “Pearls on Ice” program that will take place on Jan. 28.

• Twi Brown