uActivities center and Madeleva renovations are coming soon
By SARAH RYKOWSKI
Saint Mary's News Editor
The winds of change continue to waft Saint Mary's campus. A new Student Activities Center is in the works and the major renovations due on Madeleva Hall are on the way through the planning stages.
Right now, both projects are still in paper, and no dates have been set for the transfer from paper to reality. "They are progressing at the same stage," said Keith Dennis, vice president for Finance and Administration at the College. "We are working on the definition of what kind of space we need and we actually have some floor plans and preliminary cost estimates."
As the College continues to gradually expand enrollment, the space becomes more and more important. Madeleva Hall houses almost all classes and faculty offices, except for science, modern languages, nursing and education courses. Noble Family Dining Hall, where the new Student Activities Center will stand, becomes more and more cramped, as does the office space in Le Mans Hall and Haggar Student Center.
"Most of the changes being made are to make better use of existing space for the current enrollment and to better serve a population of about 1700 students," Dennis said.
According to Dennis, the Student Activities Center will house the bookstore and Dining Hall, bank offices, ATM machines, and the Post Office.
"The Student Center will be the main gathering place on campus," Dennis said.
Linda Timm, vice president for Student Affairs, has the latest set of plans for the facilities, although nothing is in stone as yet.
"The plans...are the most recent set I have," Timm said. "The architects have been working on another revision and we will likely have access to those in the coming weeks."
According to the plans, the Dining Hall will contain three small meal/meeting places along with a 130+ seating area that could be partitioned from the the general dining area, much like the Wedge Room in the current Dining Hall.
"There will be the opportunity to provide multiple concepts for dining," Dennis said. "The facility is going to be flexible so that these options can be changed as tastes and oppportunities change."
According to Timm, the Student Center will also contain a cafe with Internet capabilities, a coffee bar, travel agency, general store, copy shop, a large lounge, off-campus student lounge, a TV lounge, a resource center for campus ministry, the president's dining room, student activities offices, multicultural affairs offices, SURV, student government offices, catering offices, the Blue Mantle office, an Observer office, a 100 seat theater style room, and three meeting rooms.
"There will be the opportunity to provide multiple concepts for dining," Dennis said. "The facility will be made flexible so that these options can be changed as tastes and opportunities change."
When the Student Activities Center is completed and all of the occupants of Haggar Student Center will relocate to the new center, and Admission and College Relations will move to Haggar, after renovations are also made to that facility.
In regards to Madeleva, that building will receive a facelift like the one performed on Regina Hall this summer.
"The changes to Madeleva are expected to be quite dramatic," Dennis said. "They include renovating a majority of the classrooms by adding technology and adjusting class sizes."
According to Dennis, the students will not be the only ones to benefit from the changes to Madeleva.
"The faculty and staff offices will be standardized and renovated to provide windows and other amenities," Dennis said. "Departments will be relocated to make better use of support staff."
tee hopes to act a catalyst in raising awareness on campus.
"The task force is to keep the issue alive and promote a strong educational component," said Karen Ristau, dean of faculty.
With the help from the faculty members on the task force committee, sweatshop specific material can be made available to interested faculty and students.
"One thing the faculty will do is bring speakers to campus and setup curriculum for professors that incorporates sweatshop issues," said Capillo.
The next meeting for the task force will be in early October. By the end of meeting they hope to have a draft of their year goals and all they hope to accomplish.
"It's coming along," said VenderWerven, "and the goal is to get this up and running as quick as possible."
All News Stories for Wednesday, September 20, 2000
