Eric Zuniga, Campus Carrier deputy news editor
The WinShape Foundation is constructing a new service road that will connect a building on Legacy Drive to the stretch road that leads to Berry’s Mountain Campus. The road will allow WinShape employees to travel from the office to other WinShape buildings located on Mountain Campus. According to Gary Will, assistant vice president for campus safety and land management, the new road will be secured with a gate similar to other entrances to campus.
“The connecting road will be secured by a Berry College access-controlled gates with access normally limited to WinShape employees,” Will said in an email. “Additionally, there may be occasional events where the gate is opened to allow for a second access point to Mountain Campus activities.”
Although the road is being constructed near roads and trails that connect Main Campus with Mountain Campus, Will said that there should be minimal disruption to activities on Viking Trail.
“There should be little to no impediments to the use of Viking Trail during the road construction,” Will said in an email.
The new road will be adjacent to a building owned by WinShape located on 25 Legacy Drive off of Technology Parkway. Public records indicate the building was purchased in 2021. Kayin Welcher, a senior in the WinShape College Program, said that the recently purchased building is primarily used by WinShape staff.
“The building is not open to students. When I went there, it was secured — it wasn’t unlocked, and you had to be let in, so it’s not really open to students or the public and there’s only specific staff,” said Welcher, who went to the building for an interview he had to complete as a WinShape senior.
According to Welcher, construction on the road began this February. He said that although the project was supposed to be completed by March, the road is still under construction.
“The road was supposed to be built about a month ago. It was supposed to be done,” Welcher said. “The road was supposed to be done by that point, and we were supposed to travel to the legacy building via the road to do the interviews.”
Welcher suggested that the repaving of Stretch Road completed last semester could have played a role in the delay of the new road’s construction.
“I don’t know why it’s been delayed. I don’t know if it might be related to the repaving of Stretch,” Welcher said.
According to Welcher, the road’s construction has not impeded travel to and from Mountain Campus and has had a minimal impact on the College Program’s activities.
“You kind of want to put some more distance between you and the bus, but it hasn’t impeded traffic,” Welcher said. “[WinShape staff] haven’t had set time aside to like help with the construction or give any opinions on it. I think it’s just kind of happening outside of the like college program staff members’ sphere of influence.”
While the new building is currently used for administrative purposes by WinShape staff, Welcher said that students who work with staff to coordinate community events may work in the building in the future.
“We have community week, for the WinShape community, it’s a week to get to know the people for the different classes,” Welcher said. “Students kind of coordinate that alongside WinShape staff, so I think there’s a possibility that students might work in the legacy center, but it’s not a full-time position. You could potentially transition into that. I think it’s a potential opportunity for students, but nothing is guaranteed as of right now.”
Welcher added that communication about the new road to WinShape students has been minimal, emphasizing that the construction has not particularly affected students at the moment.
“The construction—the new Legacy Building—it just has little to no impact on really current WinShape students,” Welcher said. “To give a feel of how this isn’t really student related, there hasn’t been a formal email sent out to WinShape students with ‘this is what’s going on, this is how it’s going to impact you.’ It’s just kind of happening.”