[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"]
Photograph by Timothy P. Riethmiller[/caption]
- Photograph by Timothy P. Riethmiller
By Kara Hackett, Managing Editor
The smell of freshly brewed coffee drifts from the Jumping Bean to the circumference of the student union where six senior girls huddle around a table Monday night for a group meeting.
The girls enjoy the union's atmosphere. But do they like the building?
The table erupts in laughter that echoes off the concave walls.
"I like it," says Gretchen Hiller when the laughter stops. "I just think it is a little cramped for how many people like to come here. There's not a lot of space."
"There's not a lot to offer," says Kirsten Eberle.
But the union as Taylor students know it won't be around for long.
The spaceship-esque dome built in 1958 is set to be replaced by a state-of-the-art "campus center" that will be built over and around Rediger Auditorium.
But beyond blueprints and promises, students have seen little progress on the building project.
Three Echo articles in the past two years have chronicled the administration's plans for a new campus center, calling it the university's "next priority" after the grand opening of the Euler Science Complex in August 2012.
Now 100-odd students who crowd the union on weeknights are asking: Why is Taylor building a new dorm by Gerig Hall before seeing any progress on the campus center?
"I find it really weird because I thought it was the next big thing," said sophomore Andrew Whitworth, finishing the last bites of a Noah's Ark pizza from the Grille Monday night. "Then (Taylor) built a new dorm, and I don't know what that's all about."
Vice President for Student Development Skip Trudeau says this year's freshman class of 560 new students - the largest incoming class in Taylor's history - presented an immediate concern for housing on campus next fall, which contributed to the new dorm's quick appearance on administrative agendas.
"We just felt like we had to respond," Trudeau said.
But the bigger reason Taylor is building the dorm before the new union is the difference in funding models each building requires.
Since students pay fees to live in dorms, Taylor can afford to build the dorm on a bond issue, or loan, that will be paid off over time by the revenue the building brings in.
Vice President of Finance Stephen Olson says the dorm will likely cost $10 million, and about 65 percent of that will be financed through debt.
But the new dorm will provide space for 150 new students on campus, so it essentially funds itself.
"We're not raising your tuition to pay for it," Trudeau said.
On the other hand, since the new student union is not guaranteed to bring in revenue, Taylor prefers funding it entirely through gifts from donors rather than through debt, according to Vice President for Business Administration Ron Sutherland.
"We generally try not to borrow on buildings that don't have revenue coming in on them," Sutherland said.
The campus center is projected to cost $20 million, and Olson says a debt of that magnitude would require annual payments funded through Taylor's budget, adding a large expense.
"In order to identify and secure contributions of the magnitude needed to finance this (campus center) project, the administration is working through the necessary planning stages, and those stages take time," Olson said.
Vice President for Advancement Ben Sells is putting together a fundraising case or financial plan for the campus center this semester, and he says in campaigns this size, a "leadership gift," or first gift between $5 million and $8 million, is required get the ball rolling.
"We're talking with people and praying for a gift in this range," Sells said in an email.
Although no official date is set for groundbreaking on the campus center, Trudeau says administrators are hoping to have the building's final design and fundraising case ready by January.
When all of the funds are identified and at least half of the funds are received, Taylor will begin the 12-13 month construction process.
And while the campus center is under construction, chapel will need to be relocated because Rediger Auditorium is in the center of the building project.
That brings to light one of Taylor's next building priorities: A new chapel.
Trudeau says the chapel is probably 10-15 years in Taylor's future, and the original plan was for it to be built where the baseball fields are now.
But since the baseball field and dugouts have generated athletic enthusiasm after renovations last spring, administrators are now re-evaluating the future chapel's location.
"We're working on a revised campus master plan now," Sutherland said.
The new master plan, including the location of the chapel, will be approved by the Board of Trustees when it meets in early February or early May.
And unless unexpected donors offer to fund a different project on campus first, the campus center truly will be Taylor's next building to break ground.
"We'd like to do it as soon as possible," Sutherland said. "It's the highest of many priorities to raise funds for."
