News
Briefly
Calendar of Events
Commentary
Opinions
Sports
Diversions
Special Report: Ethamphetamines
World News
Classifieds
Login
Letter Submission
Search
Archive
Publishing Policy
Mail Subscriptions
St. Cloud State University
College Publisher
Home
>
News
Atwood plans addition
By Jake Zisla
Published:
Thursday, November 14, 2002
After a back and forth process of planning this summer between the Atwood Renovation Committee and GLT Architects, a $5.6 million plan has been agreed upon which will add 1,500 square feet to Atwood.
The plan also allows for a renovation of 1,800 square feet of existing space in the building.
“We stayed very true to what the students voted on in the referendum,” said Atwood Memorial Center director, Margaret Vos.“The students on our committee wanted Atwood to really be a showpiece. They wanted to have a glass facade for the west entrance because the rest of campus is all brick and mortar.”
Vos said that one of the complaints students voiced about Atwood was that there was no central entrance, and that the building was confusing.
“People were going to the retail shops to ask how to get somewhere,” she said. “Our new plan is to have a more open feel where you can look into a room and know what’s in there and not have to kind of peek in. We want retail to feel like retail, and not like a classroom.”
As part of this effort at centralization, Atwood’s information desk will be moved closer to the new entrance and all the retail shops will be located on a mall-like strip.
Internally, the major changes for Atwood will be a completely renovated student organizations center, a remodeling of the cultural organizations center and a shuffling of the retail outlets in the building.
“Our current student organizations center can cater to about 30 different groups,” Vos said.“But we have over 200 on this campus, so something needed to be changed.”
The new student organizations center will be much larger, providing locked offices for certain groups and a communal work area for all the organizations. The room will offer high- speed computer access and work space for student groups.
Along with a remodeled glass entrance, Atwood’s main external feature will be a skyway connecting it with Centennial Hall, current home of the bookstore and future home of the College of Business.
Funds allocated by the state legislature to gut Centennial and make it the new home of SCSU’s student services offices were vetoed by Gov. Ventura, but Vos said the committee did not want to cut off the option for the future.
“The idea of having the student union and student services connected would be great,” she said. “So even though the funds (for renovating Centennial) aren’t there now, we want to have that option open for the future.”
Atwood’s second floor will be renovated as well, with the addition of a high-end, 300 person conference room, which Vos hopes will offer an alternative to groups trying to host events in the ballroom.
“Right now, the ballroom is booked for the rest of the year,” Vos said.“But some groups don’t need all of that space, so our new conference room will accommodate those smaller groups.”
In the basement, a dining area roughly the size of the brickyard will be added, and storage space, which Vos said will accommodate the student groups, will also be built in.
While Vos said she is very happy with how things are progressing at this point, some of the general maintenance workers (GMW) at Atwood are not thrilled with the renovations.
“I don’t understand why all the meeting rooms can’t be smart rooms,” said one GMW who wished to remain unnamed. “I mean, it is a college campus. We do have the technology. That way, people wouldn’t have to always rent out all this equipment, it would just be there in the room.”
“Another thing is the glass,” added the GMW. “With the thousands of dollars they’re spending on the glass, they could add more meeting rooms. It’s just kind of frustrating because they are adding another 1,500 square feet on, but they’re not hiring another GMW. Who’s going to clean all this glass? It just seems like a lot of this is being done for aesthetics.”
Despite these concerns, Vos, the Atwood Renovation Committee and GLT Architects have finalized their plans, hoping to break ground next March.
“We are in the process of contracting a construction company and getting this thing started,” she said. “We haven’t selected one yet, but there is definitely interest out there.”
Vos said that at the very latest, the project would be completed by fall of 2004. This gives everyone two years to see if Atwood’s new look is worth the wait.
