The future of the Davies Center expansion project is in doubt unless students agree to a new plan, to be unveiled at today’s Chancellor’s Roundtable.
Students first voted for the expansion by passing a spring semester 2000 referendum. At the time, the estimated price tag was $8.5 million.
| “It’s a center for students, so their input is critical.” –Sarah Schuh Senate President |
But expanding Davies likely will cost considerably more than that, Vice Chancellor Andy Soll said.
So, once again, students will be faced with a choice.
Since students passed the initial expansion referendum, a committee of students and staff has been meeting to consider options for the project.
After considering three main options and working with consultants to examine all angles of the project, the committee is ready to present its plan 4 p.m. today in the Menominee Room in Davies Center.
Students will have ample time and information to consider before voting on the new referendum during the Student Senate elections in March, Soll said.
The Davies committee will give students as much information as it can through presentations, answering questions and a Web site, among other efforts, Soll said.
Sarah Schuh, Student Senate president and a Davies committee member, said the scope of the new plan is quite different from that of the initial project. Yet, she said she thinks students will approve.
“I think it’s exciting for students,” Schuh said. “It’s a student center, so their input is crucial.”
Neither Soll nor Schuh said much about the project’s specifics in terms of design or cost. Not all of the details have been worked out, Soll said.
“I do want to stress that what’s being presented is a concept,” Soll said. “We don’t have a design for the building.”
Only if students approve the project will those details and specifics be worked out, Soll said.
Freshman Tina Spielmann spends quite a bit of time in Davies studying and eating between classes.
Spielmann is hesitant to support an expansion because she said she thinks Davies is fine. There’s plenty of food and the area never seems to be too full, she said.
The proposed center would be about more than just food, Schuh said.
Although details aren’t clear yet, she said that the renovated Davies also would include a fitness center.
Despite possible student concerns, state budget issues won’t be a factor in the project, Soll said, because it isn’t receiving state tax support.
“We can’t solve the state’s budget problem,” Soll said. “We’re part of it, but we’re not really in control of it. The challenge is to maintain the tradition of excellence we have on this campus. In this case, it’s in our control.”
If the March referendum passes, construction probably would begin in about three years, Soll said. Completion of the project would probably take from 18 to 24 months to complete.
Students wouldn’t see a segregated fee increase right away, Soll said. The increase probably would be phased in at the beginning of fall 2004.
Soll is hopeful students will approve the plan.
“We don’t necessarily have any buildings that are particularly focal points on campus,” Soll said. “(The expanded Davies Center) could be kind of a signature building that people think of when they think of this campus.”
