Ideas for a new student center have been thrown around by campus organizations like Student Government Association since the early '90s.
Instead of getting a new building, the agenda for the Board of Trustees' Friday meeting includes discussing renovation of the L.A. Pittenger Student Center.
Glenn Augustine, senior director of University Communications, and Kay Bales, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, confirmed it will be discussed.
While the original idea was to create an entirely new building, Bruce Morgan, director of the Student Center and programs, said that he hasn't heard whether that would happen any time in the near future.
The university decided last year to expand the Rec Center. Because the Student Center and the Rec Center compete for the same fees it would be burdensome on the students to do both, Kevin Kenyon, associate vice president, Facilities, Planning and Management, said. Financial support does not come from the government, but from revenues and fundraising, he said.
While Asher Lisec, SGA president, said she thought the Student Center should be in the middle of campus, studies by the university show students do not use it because of it's location but because of the activities held there.
"Right now the only reason to go to the Student Center is if you have an office or are attending a meeting," she said.
Renovations are needed to improve program space, increase technology in all meeting rooms and meet any other student need, Morgan said.
With the renovations, he said the Student Center will be more inviting and will be able to provide more activities.
"It will give students something to be proud of; that this is their Student Center," he said.
Possible updates to the Student Center include work on the ballroom and entry area, Kenyon said, but the rest of the renovations will be cosmetic.
"We'd like to get windows if there is money available," he said. "It will be like the Atrium where students will like to hang out. It will be more inviting,"
There will be also infrastructure renovations, including work needed on heating and cooling to keep the systems safe. They need to be either upgraded or replaced, Morgan said.
Built in 1952, the Student Center is in desperate need of renovations, Morgan said. Some of the original equipment is still in use. It is hard to repair, inefficient and hard to get parts for the systems, Kenyon said.
"We just want to make sure the building has an extended life cycle, most students wont get excited about it, but I do," Kenyon said.
An approximate cost won't be announced until after the Board of Trustees meeting, Morgan said. An architecture firm has also not been determined. The university has interviewed three firms and is in the process of reference checks, he said.
Morgan said he expects the project will take two years, but a time frame will not be set until a firm is hired.
Once the firm is hired, there will be one year of planning and one year of rehabilitation. It may take longer, Morgan said, because construction will work around faculty, staff and students.
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