The long-discussed renovations to the Bryan Center and West Union Building may soon become a reality, but not before a little more planning.
With much of the groundwork laid for implementing the upperclass residential life plan, Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, is looking now to begin a discussion on upgrading student social space. Focusing on a "village" comprised of the two main student centers plus Page Auditorium, the Flowers Building and the new parking garage and auxiliary services building, Moneta hopes to modernize spaces often characterized as crowded, disorganized and unwelcoming.
"I think it's really an interesting question to ask ourselves, OWhat is the student center for the 21st century?'" Moneta said. "I see the next few months as a time for fact-gathering on what are the best uses for these spaces."
Currently the buildings house a fluctuating variety of offices, gathering areas, restaurants and stores. The area has seen several changes in the past year, including cosmetic alterations and a new box office in the Bryan Center. And it will soon see more differences, such as a temporary multicultural center in the current Craft Center and renovations to the West Union by food provider ARAMARK Corp.
The plan for the parking garage and adjoining building will free up space in both the Bryan Center and the West Union, and combined with the arrival of Moneta, the buildings may bring a more holistic vision into focus. Administrators are prepared to spend about $20 million to renovate the four buildings and help fund the new building, but as with similar conversations during the past two decades, the University faces numerous options and competing ideas.
One major priority for renovations is likely to be increasing student office space. Most student groups currently are housed in the Bryan Center's main office
"Student groups simply don't have enough space, and I think it's time to think about the big picture rather than putting people in areas just because there is space available," said junior Brady Beecham, president of the Duke University Union.
Traditionally the Union has had some authority to allocate space in the Bryan Center. Although a Board of Trustees resolution in May granted Moneta all authority to allocate student residential and social space, he said he hopes to involve students, especially Union and Duke Student Government officials, in examining student unions at other schools.
Beecham noted, however, that the Bryan University Center has traditionally offered, as its full name indicates, a place for the whole University, with the dual goals of providing student social space and broader community services.
Those services have an important role, said DSG President C.J. Walsh.
"I think it would be nice if a student center was actually a student center, with a computer cluster, even [Counseling and Psychological Services], the Career Center, things that people use so students can really focus on one place to go," Walsh said.
Some of the services in the current "village" buildings--possibly including the Textbook Store, Duke Barber Shop and The Chronicle's offices--are likely to move into the new building. It is to be built near the current Bryan Center parking lot, and is scheduled to break ground in mid-spring. Other schools' student unions, such as the one at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, already emphasize more student space. Administrators there are adding a new 40,000-square-foot wing to the building, with student meeting and office space.
"The union philosophy here is different from other places, in that we don't have a lot of revenue generation," said Scott Hudson, assistant director of the union at UNC-CH. "Our union is a lot more lounge areas, meeting space for student organizations and offices for student organizations."
Whatever the balance of stores and restaurants to purely student areas, the spaces may include more mixing of administrators and students. Sue Wasiolek, assistant vice president for student affairs, said that having student groups located next to an office for their advisors may create more community.
Renovating the various buildings in the "village" has been an issue almost as far back as the Bryan Center's completion in 1981. The issue was a top priority for Trask when he arrived at Duke in 1995, and several committees have since studied potential changes. The renovations were delayed while administrators focused on residential changes.
Trask now credits Moneta with rejuvenating the process.
"I've got a client," Trask said. "I have somebody who wants to do something."
The residential life changes--including the renovation of Main West Campus and the construction of the West-Edens Link--allow for more flexibility and creativity in looking at social space, said Judith White, assistant vice president and director of the Residential Program Review. The new and renovated housing will likely feature several new social areas, including the WEL's tower, as well as a wider diversity of meeting areas--spaces that White said will allow the University to be unique in re-evaluating its student unions.
"We've gone through this exercise of trying to see what models there are out there, and what I've observed is that the student centers are really intrinsic to the place," White said. "We really have to decide what combination of those will work at Duke."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.