This week our discussion centers around the Boyd construction and how things are going.
L: The Boyd Hall groundbreaking has come and gone. The building is now officially under construction. With the short time frame in which the construction plans have changed and begun, I think everyone has done a stellar job.
D: The Boyd project has been in the planning stages for 3 or more years. The way things have gone so far, it would appear that the project was planned in one drunken weekend. We are one week into the project and they’ve already managed to anger both students and faculty members.
L: Are you talking about the Hyde Gallery cluster still? Though I still think ITS was trapped on that one, I also think Boyd was more of an excuse than a reason for the change.
D: ITS is part of it, but only a small part. The reason you immediately think of them is because that issue has already played out. It is clear that the students lost, but this will be a small battle in this entire war we call the Boyd project.
L: If the Boyd project is a war, then it is the perfect war. Everyone will win in the end. We will have a brand new high quality science facility with plenty of space.
D: OK, in the end everything will be really nice, but we are forgetting all the bad that will occur along the way. Here is an example of what is to come, major loss of parking. As of May 6, all the lots surrounding Boyd will be closed. This displaces all the Boyd faculty parking as well as the Admissions office staff and visitors.
L: They can’t very well park in the middle of a construction zone, especially since the wing that is being added to Boyd will extend over two of the lots. In addition, Admissions visitor parking is being put up behind Pemi.
D: Aha! This is the first in a series of parking chain reactions. If Admissions moves behind Pemi, who loses parking in place of them? Probably Junior and Senior level students who are allowed to park up on campus.
L: These students can just park out at the Facility Services lot or behind the PE Center.
D: Parking behind FSB or the PE Center is sort of harsh-those students have been here for 3 or 4 years, haven’t they paid their dues? Don’t they deserve a break, even a small one like parking behind Pemi? That was just the first part of the parking chain reaction. What happens when science faculty are moved to Hall Dormitory, and Center Lodge. These people will need to park. Where will they find this parking space? If they park behind Hyde, they will just be thrown into an already overcrowded pool.
L: They are also adding portable classrooms on Tobey Road, behind the Student Apartments. With that addition, will be an additional lot that will house twenty-six cars. That should help alleviate this problem.
D: That won’t come to fruition until early or mid summer. The parking crunch will be an issue starting this week. Also, what staff member will want to walk to mid campus all the way from Tobey Road, passing through the student apartments on their way? Of course that will not work; most likely they will make some of the Tobey Road lot commuter parking and take another chunk for faculty and staff from the Hyde lot.
L: A few people walking slightly farther distances does not seem to be a major issue. Everyone can make due for a couple of years.
D: Can they really? That is a very closed minded idea which seems to be emanating from everyone making decisions in this project. These people greatly lack the proper perspective. For every student on campus their vision is the four or five years they are here. Nothing else really matters or even exists. Faculty and staff are here for twenty or more. When they have to undergo, or put students under a hardship for two years this is really just a drop in the bucket for them. They don’t realize that they are damaging up to half a students college career.
L: Does that mean that no construction or renovation should ever happen? That would make this a real stagnant place.
D: I agree, these things need to happen. Change is necessary to keep current, but decisions should be made to lessen negatively impacting students for long periods of time. In the end, without students, there would be no college. Hopefully enrollment doesn’t dip during this fiasco, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it does.
L: In the end the new Boyd will be a great thing for all the students. If a few eggs need to be broken along the way, so be it.
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