by Kenneth Todd Ruiz
Managing Editor
In a proposal that would dramatically alter the face of the University of La Verne, plans to build a Campus Center featuring a new three-story building were recently approved by the Board of Trustees.
More than a facelift, the plan – estimated to cost $42 million – would reshape the heart of the campus with new construction and renovation of existing facilities.
“We are looking at ways to improve campus life,” said Loretta Rahmani, dean of student affairs. “We need a place where faculty and students have a place to come out. A living room for the University.”
According to Rahmani, who chaired the planning committee, the footprint of the new structure is planned to occupy the current locker rooms, the athletic training building, and part of the 2nd Street parking lot.
Looking to replace the jumble of services currently located inside the Supertents, Rahmani said the construction of the new center will allow the Supertents to be refocused as an athletics-only facility.
She said a number of services and programs currently distributed around campus will be consolidated into the new building.
This list includes everything in the tents not related to athletics, such as ASF and student mailboxes, as well as most services currently offered in the Student Resource Center.
Plans currently call for classrooms on the third floor, and a multi-purpose room that would hold approximately 200 people.
“From the little I understand, it will be beneficial for off-campus students,” said Inous Pollard, administrative assistant in the organizational leadership department. “They’ll have a place to go.”
Rahmani said the project is the product of much consideration on how to expand the school.
“For a number of years, we’ve all been thinking about how we can improve the campus,” she said. “For the past year, we’ve worked on plans and drawings.”
An architectural firm has drawn up plans for what the new Campus Center may look like.
Any such plans are unlikely to see a ground breaking for several more years, as there are currently no funds for the expensive project.
According to a Nov. 14 memo from President Stephen Morgan, the Board of Trustees unanimously endorsed the project and a five-year fund raising campaign.
Of the $42 million currently estimated, $16 million will go toward new construction.
Rahmani said the rest would be spent on related projects such as renovating the student plaza and the Supertents.
“As long as they don’t make it much more expensive than it already is for students, it will be great,” Brenda Marroquin, junior criminology major.
Earlier this month the administration called for a mandatory 9 percent cut in most departments in response to a $3 million shortfall.
