Meeting Meehan
President discusses football, academics and the stadium
Doran Smith
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: News
Smith: Moving to the stadium expansion, do you think that that it will interfere with other building projects?
Meehan: I don't think it will interfere with other building projects. The biggest part of the new that project is the 400 new rooms which we need on campus. Since I've been president, we've taken down four old style halls-Abercrombie, Luttrell, Weatherly, and Rowan Halls. Students, like you, just don't want to live in that type facility. Some groups like the old style halls, like the Marching Southerners love Dixon Hall, because it's convenient for them and it allows them to be together as a group. We want to create more community style living on campus. That is one of the reasons we bought Colonial Arms apartments. That is one of the reasons we are building the new 400 bed facility. Will it interfere? In what way do you mean? Financially, there is no doubt that it is expensive. It is a 65 million dollar project over 35 years, but it will be expensive to build anything today or in the future. We will want more apartment style living. We are already beginning the discussion about the next dormitories and the things we will add. You have to remember that the stadium portion is not the majority of it-it is the smaller portion of it-less than half.
Smith: What other building initiatives can we look forward to after the stadium is completed?
Meehan: Additional housing facilities in the style students want to have here. We also need another wing for the Ramona Wood building. I understand the college of education desperately needs the expansion there. We already have that laid out. We've talked to the governor about it and he knows that is something that we are very much after. And there will be other areas. The Nursing building is one we need to expand. If we have more faculty and a larger facility, we could double the number of nurses that we graduate at this point. So, we are planning to build for education, and nursing and living facilities-more dormitories are needed.
Meehan: I don't think it will interfere with other building projects. The biggest part of the new that project is the 400 new rooms which we need on campus. Since I've been president, we've taken down four old style halls-Abercrombie, Luttrell, Weatherly, and Rowan Halls. Students, like you, just don't want to live in that type facility. Some groups like the old style halls, like the Marching Southerners love Dixon Hall, because it's convenient for them and it allows them to be together as a group. We want to create more community style living on campus. That is one of the reasons we bought Colonial Arms apartments. That is one of the reasons we are building the new 400 bed facility. Will it interfere? In what way do you mean? Financially, there is no doubt that it is expensive. It is a 65 million dollar project over 35 years, but it will be expensive to build anything today or in the future. We will want more apartment style living. We are already beginning the discussion about the next dormitories and the things we will add. You have to remember that the stadium portion is not the majority of it-it is the smaller portion of it-less than half.
Smith: What other building initiatives can we look forward to after the stadium is completed?
Meehan: Additional housing facilities in the style students want to have here. We also need another wing for the Ramona Wood building. I understand the college of education desperately needs the expansion there. We already have that laid out. We've talked to the governor about it and he knows that is something that we are very much after. And there will be other areas. The Nursing building is one we need to expand. If we have more faculty and a larger facility, we could double the number of nurses that we graduate at this point. So, we are planning to build for education, and nursing and living facilities-more dormitories are needed.
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