With one look around Ball State University's campus, there were some noticeable changes awaiting students as they returned from Spring Break.
Fences now block often-traveled walkways while cranes in the distance seem to dwarf Shafer Tower. In the same blink of the eye, backhoes and other earth-shaping equipment roam the once grassy ground near academic buildings.
It's easy to see that Ball State is under construction.
Students, faculty and staff are no strangers to this often loud and aesthetically displeasing process. With the new music building recently completed and its complementary parking garage nearing the same status, students are breathing a sigh of relief.
Brace yourself, though, because it is only about to get worse.
When McKinley Avenue undergoes the first part of its multi-million dollar facelift this summer, it will be anything but an overnight job. Officials hope to have the task completed by the time the majority of students return this fall, but summer students and visitors will have to encounter quite a bit of inconvenience in the interim. When it is complete, however, McKinley Avenue will be more scenic than ever before.
The new residence hall on the east side of campus, set to begin construction come May, will tear up ground and disrupt walkways for some time before it reaches completion in June 2007. It will, however, offer brand new living spaces to roughly 500 students
As a new student center looms and with the opening of a new communications building in 2006, the west side of McKinley Avenue will, essentially, be one giant building shielding students from the elements.
But to get there, it takes a little more than breaking some ground.
Sure, the sight might be unpleasant and the sounds may be anything but music to the ears, but we must understand that without these changes, the university cannot evolve.
Instead, it would simply just sit here. Campus buildings would never see improvements, musicians would never see new practice rooms, radio stations no new homes and students no new living facilities.
Life would be, well, pretty ordinary.
Despite the temporary discomfort from construction noise and the anger toward having to find a new route to class, these changes are for the benefits of students: both present and future generations.
That way, when we come back as alumni to visit with our children someday, we too will be able to say that one treasured adage: "When I was here, we had to walk to class in the snow -- both ways."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
