The EMU is central to many students’ experience. Now, students will be central to the future of the EMU. From Nov. 14 through Nov. 17 students will have the option to vote on whether they are willing to make a financial commitment to the expansion and renovation of the EMU and Student Recreation Center.
While the referendum was announced early this term, the process has been in the works for some time.
In 2002 the EMU hired architects to rework the master plan for the building. In the process, the architectural firm and the board developed an idea for a new EMU.
“It went nowhere,” said Daniel Geiger, coordinator of the University’s Outdoor Program@@http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/DisciplesOfDirt/message/178 and http://pages.uoregon.edu/dgeiger/@@ who has been working as a leader on the renovation project. Geiger said that without support from the University administration and student affairs leaders the plan ultimately failed.
Since then, a new University president, Richard Lariviere, and a new vice president for Student Affairs, Robin Holmes, have come in and have re-emphasized the importance of student facilities.
“They have a new vision,” Geiger said.
The last time the EMU was renovated was in the 1970s. The original 1955 structure was modified to add a new wing and renovate the food service facilities.@@http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/architecture/oregon/earl.html AND http://oregondigital.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/archpnw&CISOPTR=16148&CISOBOX=1&REC=6@@ Furthermore, the EMU has racked up 10 years of deferred maintenance, Holmes said, at a cost of around $1 million a year.
The discussion over EMU renovations re-emerged in 2010 with the help of consulting firm Brailsford & Dunlavey.@@http://newsletter.uoregon.edu/archives/spring-2011/facilities-updates/@@ According to the EMU referendum’s website, two campus-wide surveys were performed to better understand what students, staff and faculty wanted out of a new building. They developed a profile and assessed operational costs, Geiger said.
According to the survey results, 82 percent of staff and faculty and 79 percent of students were in favor of a new EMU.
In June, University officials were ready to request authorization from the State Board of Higher Education to move forward with the project and the fee increases associated with it. However, the administration and the ASUO chose to delay the request in order to gather more University input, opting for an official referendum in the fall.
“We decided that we could absolutely not support these projects without a vote from the students,” ASUO President Ben Eckstein said.@@http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ben-eckstein/22/563/8ba@@
The actual design of the building hasn’t been determined yet, but the architectural firm behind the project went to work last week. At the moment, officials know what essential features will be included and how much it will cost. Holmes said the combined projects will cost around $162 million — $120 million will go toward the EMU, while the rest will be used on the Student Recreation Center.
Approximately 70 percent of that total will be taken from a new dedicated fee. That fee would start next year at $60 per student per term, then go up the next year to $100 per student per term for 30 years.
Holmes said that $35 million would be generated from private fundraising, including a $10 million gift announced last Thursday from University alumni Phyllis and Andy Berwick@@http://comm.uoregon.edu/archive/news-release/2011/10/berwicks%E2%80%99-gift-10-million-moves-uo-closer-new-performance-venue@@ to help build a concert hall in the new building. The remaining $14 million has been drawn in from a variety of other projects and has been used to pay for the work done thus far. Holmes said that it is rare for an institution to raise funds for student facilities
But this all depends on the vote of the students.
Holmes said the vote is not binding, but if students do not largely support the project, it will most likely not proceed.
The size of the fee being proposed is why this vote is so important, Eckstein said.
“The people who will be paying for the project need to make the decision,” he said.