Above, Artist’s rendering of the Fisher Student Center. Below, the Fishers at press conference, May 16, 2006.
© Jamie Moncrief, UNCW.
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Building History
Groundbreaking for the Herbert and Sylvia Fisher Student Center occurred on August 18, 2004, and two years later on August 24, 2006, UNCW celebrated the grand opening of the Herbert and Sylvia Fisher Student Center. The 70,536 square feet, two-story, center includes a 350 seat, big screen, movie theatre (the Lumina Theatre), a two-story bookstore, a new game room, and a new Varsity Café which features decor and memorabilia from the original Varsity Café. The center also houses a beautiful indoor lighted waterfall named “Rebirth” which was a gift of the UNCW class of 2005-06. The new building is connected to the old University Union by covered colonnades and is located between the old Union and Westside Hall. The project cost a total of $31 million and was funded by student fees. NamesakeMr. Herbert Fisher is the son of Lebanese immigrants and was the first generation of his family to be born in America, at Bullock Hospital in Wilmington, N.C. Mrs. Sylvia Fisher was also born in Wilmington and both Fishers attended New Hanover High School, graduating in the class of 1949. They both enrolled in Wilmington College and Mrs. Fisher (then Sylvia Watson) became the first Wilmington College Queen in 1950.After graduating from Wilmington College in 1953, Mr. Fisher, using money his parents invested in war bonds and with the assistance of fellow Wilmington College drafting student Bushrod Nash, opened the Varsity Grill, in October of 1953, at the age of 22. The Varsity was located about a block from Wilmington College and New Hanover High School at 1211 Princess St. Mr. Fisher knew early on that he wanted to go into some kind of business but was initially unsure of exactly what that would be. “There was some determination that you just say, this is my plan and somehow it’s going to work,” Mr. Fisher told UNCW archivist Adina Riggins in a videotaped oral history interview. (Full transcript of interview is online at http://library.uncw.edu/web/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/581.html.) To make that plan work he typically put in twelve-hour days Monday to Saturday, and a half day on Sunday. The Varsity featured a 30ft. long soda fountain and a full grill with hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, and sandwiches as regular menu items. A typical lunch cost 50 cents. The Varsity quickly became a popular student hangout and was for years the unofficial student union. After Wilmington College moved to its present location here at UNCW in 1962, Mr. Fisher continued to operate the Varsity until 1973. In 1973 he entered the real estate business with Mr. Henry Wallace and established the Coastal Realty Company. After Mr. Wallace’s passing, Mr. Fisher ran Coastal Realty on his own until recently when his son Carlton, a UNCW Business School graduate began helping him run the business. Because he feels that he has been so blessed in his own life, Mr. Fisher established a $2 million endowed fund to help build and maintain the new student center, which has been named after himself and his wife Sylvia. This represents the largest single monetary gift to date given to UNCW. He has also donated $200,000 to the Seahawk Club to build a new field house for visiting baseball teams. |
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William Madison Randall Library |