The Welcome Center building, consisting of 70,000 sf on four levels, will accommodate administrative and student services offices and a 108-seat auditorium. Interactive computers will also be available as an additional amenity.

"The concept behind our Welcome Center and bookstore complex is to provide a gateway between the university and community while enhancing services to students, faculty and staff," says Wayne State President Irvin D. Reid.

This plaza will be landscaped with trees and other greenery as well as park benches. Visitors to the campus and students will have an outside area to enjoy leisure or academic activities.

A $6-million Barnes and Noble, a 30,000-sf facility, will offer a coffee shop and lounge area within two-floor design adjacent to the Welcome Center. The floor plan and amenities will be quite similar to the bookstores found in upscale suburban communities, university officials say.

This bookstore is the only major retail bookstore chain store in Detroit.

Also, a new parking garage, located adjacent to the university bookstore and Welcome Center facility, provides an additional 705 parking spaces and a retail area totaling 3,500 sf. Parking will be available to students, faculty, staff and visitors to the Welcome Center. Some spaces will be reserved for the Detroit Public Schools.

"As you travel down Woodward Avenue, these facilities will invite you to venture onto our campus and experience the excitement of Wayne State University and the surrounding Detroit Cultural Center area," Reid says.