After receiving direct input from students, Associated Students Inc. will soon be holding a referendum on the potential expansion of the Cal Poly Recreation Center.
Students will have the opportunity to vote in February on whether a $72 million expansion should occur.
Student fees would increase by $65 per quarter if students vote yes, though the increase wouldn’t begin until construction is complete and the Rec Center is open.
The expansion should be completed by 2011 or 2012 if the project passes the student vote, said ASI public relations and marketing coordinator Michelle Broom.
ASI will launch an informative Web site Nov. 20 to help students better understand the expansion.
The Web site recexpansion.com will show sketches and renderings of what the project will entail if the vote passes. There will be a frequently asked questions section and a blog tool for students to ask questions and give input, Broom said.
“I think students really want to be able to see an actual, tangible site where they can go and see about the top 10 priorities, renderings, sketches and what things are going to look like,” ASI President Brandon Souza said.
“I think that is the really big communication link between students, so that’s why we decided to go ahead with the building of a Web site.”
Students can enter their e-mail address to receive regular updates leading up to the vote and updates during construction and campus clubs can enter their contact information to have an ASI representative talk to their group about the expansion.
“We really want to make sure that students understand that this is a really big task that the whole student body, not just ASI, is undertaking,” Souza said.
“We are asking students to not only raise their quarterly fees, but also to really think about what they want to see happen with the Recreation Center. With it being such a large project, we think it garners the necessity for a separate Web site.”
The total square footage of usable space in the facility would double with the expansion and the weight room would triple in size.
A leisure pool and multipurpose activity center (MAC) would be added. The MAC would allow students to play indoor soccer and have an area to hold events and concerts, Broom said.
In an effort to encourage sustainability on campus, only student-used areas of the Rec Center would be air conditioned. The new buildings will be more environmentally friendly by limiting waste and energy usage.
The Rec Center would remain open during construction. The expansion is planned to occur in phases to decrease the impact on students. Construction would not begin until a year after the possible passage of the vote, Broom said.
The Web site is being funded through ASI reserves, a savings account for ASI.
“I just want this Web site to serve as a forum for students to get educated about this referendum . We are not necessarily asking them to vote a certain way, we just want them to make an educated vote,” Souza said.