SEC First Floor

SEC first floor conversation focused on the question of involving retail or not. The consulting firm of Brailsford and Dunlavey reviewed the building layout and campus data and presented the unlikeliness of a profitable retail operation in that location. However, this brings into play the possibility of a non-retail food operation which would provide easy access for catering events such as the various International Resource Center (IRC) coffee hours throughout the year.

With a change of layout comes accompanying decisions that will need to be made, one of which concerns the planned DJ booth. Though discussion was heavy concerning this issue it was decided that Julia Sandidge would consult with the Student Media advisory board to reach a decision.

As was discussed last week, it has been chosen that stair three will remain in its current location. LIkewise it was agreed upon that  video screens would be implimented to allow the presence of otherwise apparently absent groups in the building (i.e. the Craft Center). This discussion revolved around two major ideas. One is the creation of a gaming center and the other is to have dedicated screens featuring live stream activities from the fourth floor Student Media and the basement Craft Center.

Starting July 11th, SEC planning meetings will have a new focus of working out details of individual spaces. These sessions will be made up small work groups rather then the curent larger groups that occupy the floor.

Memorial Union East Wing

Opsis presented three options for the arrangement of the mezzanine level of the east wing from which option three was selected for its larger multi-purpose room. Furthermore, there was discussion about the addition of a door from the planned storage space (current MU Building Services Office) onto the loading dock. This would require a large door allowing for easy movement of carts into and out of the space.

There are two new retail spaces planned in the east wing renovation. One will be a food option on the northeast porch. It would have an advantage in its ability to offer cooked food due to the feature of an exhaust system in the area from the location of the Cultural Meals Kitchen one floor below. The other retail space will be in the current mailbox center. Though different options will be discussed there is no movement on chosing just yet.

Next step for the east wing will be to set a schedule for working up more detailed plans and the creation of the scope of the contractors work in various Memorial Union projects.

LEED Certification

The plan is to have the SEC be a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certified building. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, “LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building, home or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.”

Opsis presented a spreadsheet of the LEED point system and where the building currently sits on the scale. A gold building would fall between 60-79 points. The current design gives the SEC an estimated 73 points. The MU East Wing renovation will also be designed to meet the LEED Gold standard, but will not go through the certification process to save money.

SEC Basement Craft Center

Opsis presented three options for the Craft Center to consider and option three was decided as the most workable. In this stairwell number three will stay in its original location. This provides a good approach to have a Craft Center lobby and entrance.

In the various plans for the Craft Center, how it is arranged affects the amount of building storage. In all options the general storage space is smaller than the amount building tenants have requested. In some it is about half of what is needed. Cost for constructing storage space is $35 per square food and cost of constructing Craft Center space is $400 per square foot.

Concerns were raised by the Craft Center related to the safety of restroom access at night. The current plan has the restroom entrance down a long hall out of sight of the Craft Center main desk and classroom view. The restroom entrance is also near a back stairwell that is accessible from the back side of the SEC and creates an easy opportunity for someone to sneak down into after dark. However, moving these restrooms is not possible due to costs; because of this other security opotions were discussed which highlighted the use of technology. Additionally, there were discussions centered around the need for ADA accessible workstations and sinks as well as something to create ease of accesss.

Next step for the Craft Center is to update the data spreadsheet on classroom needs and update the equipment spreadsheet.