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Contact: David West/Leigh Flynn
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
9/18/98
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES - Students on NSU's Natchitoches campus overwhelmingly passed a referendum to fund a new wellness and recreation center on campus. The referendum passed 775-418 with 65 percent of the students voting for the proposition.
The university will seek approval from the University of Louisiana System Board of Trustees and the State Board of Regents to obtain a line of credit for the project, according to Loran Lindsey, director of the physical plant at NSU. An architect will then be hired to begin design and development of the project.
The referendum calls for major renovation of the existing intramural facility, which was built in 1939. The proposition calls for the existing building to be expanded from 39,000 square feet to 80,000 completed square feet. An additional 20,000 square feet would be constructed but would not be completed until a later date, making the new building a total of 100,000 square feet.
"I was nervous about the outcome, but was relieved when the results were announced," said Northwestern SGA President Luke Dowden, a senior political science major from Negreet who oversaw the effort to pass the initiative. "This facility will be a positive for Northwestern. It will attract students to campus, create additional parking and provide a building that will be the center of activity on campus."
The proposed new name for the facility is The Demon Wellness, Recreation and Activity Center. The new facility would include a second regulation-sized basketball court, four racquetball courts in the existing weight room, a new weight room, an aerobics area, an indoor track and a wellness center. The new facility would envelop the existing IM building, incorporating some of the structure into its design.
The projected cost for renovation of the building is $6.9 million. Costs will be paid with a student-assessed fee of $75 for students carrying five or more credit hours during the fall and spring semesters effective with the spring 1999 semester. Summer students who are carrying seven or more hours will also be required to pay the fee. Completion is expected no later than 2002.
Dowden said a Student Advisory Council will be created as part of the SGA to look over plans for the center and make sure the wishes of the students are implemented as much as possible.
"Northwestern doesn't have a future alumni association, but the students have made a contribution as future alumni. They are taking an active role in being stewards of their own education," he said. "This shows that students value educational opportunities that are available to them outside the classroom."
Dowden said the fee is broken into two parts -- with $42 going toward construction and the remaining $33 for continued staffing, programming and operation of the WRAC. The fee would be for a 25-year period, at which time the $42 construction fee would be retired.
Students required to pay the fee who graduate before the facility is complete will have access to the facility for the same amount of time for which they paid the fee.