2008 Woodie Awards
Space is the final (SLU) frontier
Editorial Board
Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Editorials
From high-profile high-rises to small-scale enhancements, Saint Louis University's oasis in Midtown is growing.
Revisions to the spaces on SLU's campus are commonplace and often celebrated. Construction updates regularly pepper the monthly e-mail messages from the Rev. Lawrence Biondi, S.J. Billboards across the city advertise the Doisy Research Building and Chaifetz Arena, and the Law School is also to be refurbished.
Soon, SLU's fixation with space will extend to the Busch Student Center. In a series of updates, discussed at the latest Student Government Association meeting, the BSC will undergo some office-shuffling.
Starting this fall, the Department of Student Life will move into the previously unoccupied BSC 319. Commuters will vacate their third-floor suite for the glass-encased quiet of the former silent study lounge on the second floor.
The space those two groups leave behind will be transformed into a new resource-a Student Success Center, which will assist students in goal-setting and career-searching. Students may also see new décor, improved technology and augmented dining options and hours, starting this semester.
To determine what students will use, those rearranging SLU's spaces must understand what students want. We want aesthetically pleasing study spaces with drawing boards and Internet jacks. We want comfortable seating to dream, scheme and chat upon. We want resources and information about life after college. We still don't know what will happen to the former home of FedEx and Kinko's. Still, planned BSC adaptations accommodate these concerns.
These proposed changes are promising. So why stop at the sliding doors of the BSC? Innovative adaptation of space should be extended to the rest of campus, using the BSC as an example.
We needed a space for the new Student Success Center, so we rearranged floor-plans and found it. We wanted a 24-hour study location, and-though it will only stay open until 10 p.m.-Grand Market is inching toward that goal.
Revisions to the spaces on SLU's campus are commonplace and often celebrated. Construction updates regularly pepper the monthly e-mail messages from the Rev. Lawrence Biondi, S.J. Billboards across the city advertise the Doisy Research Building and Chaifetz Arena, and the Law School is also to be refurbished.
Soon, SLU's fixation with space will extend to the Busch Student Center. In a series of updates, discussed at the latest Student Government Association meeting, the BSC will undergo some office-shuffling.
Starting this fall, the Department of Student Life will move into the previously unoccupied BSC 319. Commuters will vacate their third-floor suite for the glass-encased quiet of the former silent study lounge on the second floor.
The space those two groups leave behind will be transformed into a new resource-a Student Success Center, which will assist students in goal-setting and career-searching. Students may also see new décor, improved technology and augmented dining options and hours, starting this semester.
To determine what students will use, those rearranging SLU's spaces must understand what students want. We want aesthetically pleasing study spaces with drawing boards and Internet jacks. We want comfortable seating to dream, scheme and chat upon. We want resources and information about life after college. We still don't know what will happen to the former home of FedEx and Kinko's. Still, planned BSC adaptations accommodate these concerns.
These proposed changes are promising. So why stop at the sliding doors of the BSC? Innovative adaptation of space should be extended to the rest of campus, using the BSC as an example.
We needed a space for the new Student Success Center, so we rearranged floor-plans and found it. We wanted a 24-hour study location, and-though it will only stay open until 10 p.m.-Grand Market is inching toward that goal.
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