Savannah Mul – Opinion Editor –
During my freshman orientation, my orientation leader told my group that by the fall of 2012 the Buley Library construction will be finished and the Southern campus will be introduced to a new and improved renovated library building. Well, it is now September 2012 and though fall hasn’t rightfully started yet, I have little doubts that the library will be finished by the end of September with the official start of fall reigning in. Instead what do we have: a brand new School of Business.
Now the School of Business was in dire need of construction as well, but didn’t the library construction start before that? Or was that after? It seems like keeping up with SCSU construction plots is almost as hard waking up for an 8 a.m. class after being out drinking, hanging out with your friends to wee hours in the night. It’s impossible you’ll never know what they’ll decide to change next.
Southern follows their own motto and doesn’t seem to stick to the typical – start what you finish first, then proceed to progress in further projects. Haven’t we all heard the expression, don’t read two books at once.
For example, another construction project that is currently going on is the new 1,200-space-parking garage that is currently being built next to the Wintergreen Building and according to southernct.edu news bulletin; the projected end of the construction for the parking garage is Spring 2013.
So hope this deadline is accurate and it will fix the endless parking problem SCSU students’ suffer from. If plans for the parking garage stay up to date, students might have to come up with a better excuse to explain to their professors that they were late, because after the Spring of 2013 there shouldn’t be a parking problems.
However I’m still dwelling on this particular issue of how my freshman orientation was four years ago – FOUR YEARS AGO – and Buley library is still not complete. Walking past the blue tarp covered fence is what I think of when I think of the endless library construction. Along with, the tacky entrance sign on the raised platform leading to the door that has the one handle to enter.
I’m beginning to think I’ll never see the day Buley will be finished, as I’m expected to graduate this May, I don’t have high hopes in seeing the completion of the project. It’s unfortunate because most of my time is spent in Buley, whether it be studying, utilizing the different and useful tools, or taking a quick nap in the comfortable chairs.
To add to the never-ending construction maze Southern is a pawn in, there are plans and designs for a New Academic Science Building, which will be located next to Jennings Hall, reports southernct.edu.
According to Robert Sheeley, the associate vice president for capital budgeting and facilities operations, he said on southernct.edu news bulletin, “The next two years of construction will forever change the look and feel of the university as a 21st century institution of higher education.”
What makes me upset about his statement is that I most likely won’t be a student at Southern to see all the grand improvements the campus will be undergoing. And there’s always one building that seems to get left out and isn’t apart of any of the construction funds.
It’s the underdog of all the buildings on campus and one that needs a little help too. It’s the fine arts building, Earl Hall. The windows never seem to shut properly and no matter what the temperature is outside, it could quite possibly feel like it’s 90 degrees upstairs, no matter with their recent air vents. Doesn’t Southern already seem to have a functional working Science Academic building, and they already want to renovate that into a more modern appealing building. The construction funds should go into making Earl Hall into the fine arts building it should be!
Maybe for the entering class of 2016, Buley Library will be done for you guys to enjoy, utilize and by then you might even have comfier chairs. By 2016 I also hope Earl Hall will receive construction funds, as well as project and design plans, to make the building a better and more creative learning environment. The Academic Science building will most likely be finished and the way I’m familiar with SCSU’s campus probably won’t look anything like how I remembered if I were to come back in four years.
