Bond-Servant Plaza is fenced off for construction purposes expected to start within the next few weeks and continue until Fall 2027.
The fenced area is part of Taylor’s first phase of construction by the Larita-Boren Student Center, along with finishing the new route for Vayhinger Loop, said Keith Cocking, senior director of construction services.
The details surrounding the Bond-Servant Plaza design will be finalized before work starts in early October. Plans drawn up include an amphitheater, a cross, seating areas, improved lighting and surrounding trees and turf.
Construction on the plaza will take part in three phases, Cocking said. The second phase, which begins with the on-site construction during this autumn, will involve moving dirt and relocating trees and plants. The third phase will entail finishing the structure of the plaza itself.
Planning is happening largely in tandem with the new chapel and welcome center, which have been in progress since Fall 2026. Reconstructing Vayhinger Loop is the current focus, with on-site work starting after final revisions to engineering details.
“It's an upgrade to the seating area (and) the dining area outside, but more importantly, it's an upgrade to the overall lawn,” Cocking said.
The chapel, welcome center and plaza all in the same area will create a hub for campus life, said Andrea Masvero, the executive director of 1846 Enterprises..
“Taylor does a really good job already of integrating the sacred spaces and social spaces,” Masvero said. “It's just kind of an ingrained part of our culture, and so I think Bond-Servant Plaza is going to deliver more of that.”
Ideas regarding use of the space include large-scale concerts, outdoor chapel services, Bible studies, wing or floor events and gathering with friends.
Seating and lawn areas have been intentionally structured for multiple ways people can use them, Masvero said.
One large downside of the Bond-Servant Plaza construction is its inconvenience to current students. Since the LaRita Boren Campus Center is right next to where the Bond Servant Plaza is being planned, it is the closest building to the fenced-off roads and fields on campus.
As most students walk to the student center to work, eat, or study, the gated-off area changes how they are able to interact with campus until next school year.
Autumn Kennedy, a senior professional writing major, said she was not informed about the gated area before returning to campus as a personnel assistant (PA) in Bergwall Hall.
“I think having that [road] gated off is kind of frustrating and adds several minutes to our walk,” Kennedy said. “I look at it, and I think about the winter, and I think about how it's gonna add more time even then, or now when it's the opposite extreme where it's, like, 90 degrees. But, you know, such is life.”
While the process of construction is frustrating, the results will continue to encourage growth among the student body on campus.
“If I have a hope for how the space is utilized, I think of the changes we've just done at [the] Class of 1975 Plaza,” said Masvero. “I feel like this is going to be a bigger version of that— a space that students really come to love and enjoy, and think of ways to utilize for everything from study time to dining to time with their friends.”
