SWCC in ‘early stages’ of $3.5M student hub

After a year of focus groups and research, Southwestern Community College is in the process of working with INVISION Architecture of Des Moines to design a $3.5 million student hub on campus.

The topic came up during SWCC’s Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday when board member Kevin Britten asked about the project.

“It’s very early stages. We don’t even have design plans yet or anything,” SWCC President Marjorie McGuire-Welch said. “It’s just again coming back to looking at the surveys we did with the staff and faculty that were on the committee, the surveys from the students, matching those up and then sitting down and working with the architects and again going through that space and saying what’s feasible on this wish list for students of what can work in our space for what’s cost prohibitive, and moving along that list with them.”

Board President Dr. Tony Cass voiced concerns on the project. “This student hub has been talked about and there is a lot of information disseminating out there, and I’m going to be honest and say there hasn’t been a whole lot of information that’s been presented to the board yet,” he said.

In an email sent to staff on March 8, McGuire-Welch announced the rough timeframe for the project. “Our goal is to complete the remodel for the student hub over the course of the upcoming academic year. The area identified for remodel will include the learning resource center. It is an amazing space that is in a centralized location for many students. As we work with Invision, we plan to preserve and remodel the aesthetic green space of the courtyard to make it a user-friendly space for all.”

Cass explained in the past, the board would have been involved in ideas on campus to discuss how much funding is available for project of this nature.

Britten asked McGuire-Welch about the budget for the project.

“Their budget came back almost twice as much as what I told them. When it came back, I told them no no, you have to take that down by half, so that’s where we’re at now,” she said. “Three and a half (million) is where mine is at.”

Utilizing outdoor space was one of the facets McGuire-Welch explained to the board. “We talked about our courtyard. That courtyard is beautiful with some wonderful open space, but it’s not utilized well,” she said. “So what could we do to make it utilized well?”

Cass asked when the board could expect more information, and McGuire-Welch said she could quickly get drawings from the architects.

“This is something that the board definitely will need to know this information,” Cass said.

McGuire-Welch said they have been making concrete steps forward to be at the point to have drawings ready. “We know there’s a long, long wish list and we know we’re not going to be able to do all of those,” she said.