As the fall semester draws closer and students return to school, the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) is preparing for phase two of their planning involving the proposed student union building.
Phase one began earlier this year in March, when CUSA began holding consultations on the proposed building. CUSA president Fahd Alhattab said phase one was a “number’s calculation,” which consisted mainly of consulting, gathering data, and refining and debating numbers.
Now phase two is beginning, which Alhattab said focuses on the aesthetics of this new space. CUSA is currently discussing how they want the building to look and what layouts are the most functional.
According to Alhattab, CUSA has also changed the location of the proposed student union building. Last year, they were leaning towards a stand-alone structure located in parking lot 4, across from the O-Train Station, but are now considering an expansion of the University Centre (UC), he said.
“[The UC] is already the location students are going to, it’s already where the traffic is, it’s already where students want to be,” Alhattab said. “It’s the connecting heart to all the rest of the buildings at university.”
While CUSA has not calculated a specific cost estimate yet, constructing a stand-alone 100,000-square-foot building would cost around $50 million dollars, according to Alhattab, who said the extension was a much less expensive option.
In order to raise the money, students will pay the costs of the building incrementally over the next 20 to 25 years. Alhattab said students will be given a referendum to vote over this issue this academic year. If the majority vote against it, the building will not be constructed.
Zahra Mohammad, a masters of engineering student at Carleton, believes the benefits outweigh the cost for the new student building.
“It sounds like a good idea, if it’s going to provide more space, accommodate more clubs and more communication From my end I like it,” Mohammad said.
Colin Miyata, a student in Carleton’s masters of engineering program, thinks it is unfair to ask students to pay for the proposed new space.
“You’re increasing their tuition, you’re increasing how much they have to spend during the school year, which is already rough for them,” Miyata said. “But maybe in the next year, if they opened it up and allow students to provide more input . . . and that way the students can pick what they will be spending their money on.”
According to Alhattab, while the initial cost may appear steep, it will pay off.
“The immediate costs may seem a bit large for other students,” Alhattab said. “In the long run, it actually saves [CUSA] tons of money because right now we pay rent to the university at a fairly high cost with a three per cent increase almost every year, but if we owned this new space, and we paid for it . . . we mortgaged it and eventually owned it, we would not be paying that rent.”
