Hartz: Campus construction a major bummer
Inconveniences outweigh the rewards of campus construction
Missed completion dates and destruction of parking areas make campus renovations unworth the effort.
By Jenny Hartz (Contact)
Friday, August 17th, 2007
I feel like a misleading salesman is running my college. He keeps promising a new and improved campus with spiffy services, yet these things are still under construction. And the construction either closes campus down or makes it hard to access.
Some improvements are needed. The additional offices in Wescoe Hall can now house more professors, and the Student Recreation and Fitness Center expansions will add additional studio space for more sports and activities.
However, until these projects get finished, campus is a mess. It’s an awful inconvenience to close the Underground in Wescoe due to construction. I mean, seriously, it’s the only dining on campus with Chick-Fil-A!
Also, it’s annoying to go work out and relieve some stress only to find out that the track is closed “due to construction.” Or the machines you like to watch buff men work out on are gone because they’ve been moved because the entire wall of the building has been knocked down. It’s even more annoying when you realize you are paying with your student fees to use this gym that’s constantly closed.
According to the article “Completion of renovations delayed,” from the July 25 Kansan, the setbacks on the SRFC expansion are due to heavy rains and the rising cost of lumber. At least the director of Recreation Services acknowledges the construction isn’t on schedule and apologizes in advance for shutting things down.
However, I can’t say the same for the new football practice facility and practice fields over by the stadium. If you’ve driven by there lately it looks like the movie set for “Antz.” Apparently practice fields that affect one team are worth more than parking for people paying to get an education on campus.
Chancellor Hemengway promised, in a KU news release on May 12, 2006, that every displaced parking spot would be replaced. The construction for the fields and parking lots would begin in Summer 2007 and end before classes start. I don’t even need to put a punch line here to get a laugh. I’d like to add that this news release is titled “Site for new KU football facility won’t impair views of Campanile Hill.”
According to the KU Parking and Transit Web site, the parking lot west of the stadium is expanded and now open. Students can access it from 11th and Maine. I’m glad the parking promise was kept because now I’m even FARTHER from the student union and classes but, hey, I’m only two feet from the stadium! And I still have a spectacular view of Campanile!
Another approaching inconvenience will be Wescoe’s new ventilation system, a two-year project (“Study shows no link to brain tumors”, from the July 25 Kansan). During this process, many professors will have to move their offices. These offices could be somewhere near 6th and Wakarusa.
Improvements need to be made, but timeliness is a key factor. If a project is to be completed when classes start, don’t start construction in late July.
Plus, it’s a good idea to consider how many people you are inconveniencing, and if your solution for these people is just as good or better than what they had before. However, alumni have donated a few of these additions, like the Docking Family Gateway fountain and the new football facility; we can’t decide what they do with their money. I shall donate ski lifts and a 20-storey parking garage, promising to complete them by Fall of Sometime In This Millennium. And then maybe I’ll add a gold statue of myself.
Hartz is a Stilwell junior in Creative Writing.
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