Listen Here
SGA donates $30,000 toward AMU renovations
By Sarah Stubbs
@sarahxstubbs
The college of business and center for student life building is not the only major project the University of Findlay is working on this summer. The Alumni Memorial Union (AMU) will be receiving a makeover thanks in part to a $30,000 donation from UF’s student government association (SGA).
This will be the first time that the aesthetics of the AMU have been updated since 2002, according to Dave Emsweller, vice president of student affairs. The project will be completed by August.
Updates will include new furniture, fresh carpet and paint color schemes, and lighting. Emsweller said that efforts will be made to provide students with more places to plug electronics in, too, but the power specifics have yet to be finalized.
“The goal is really just to modernize it, upgrade it, make it more comfortable,” Emsweller said.
Students shouldn’t expect too much of a change in regards to the current floor plan of the AMU. The updates this summer will be purely aesthetic.
“We talked about filling it in [the atrium-pit area] and making it all one level but unfortunately there’s not enough funding to do that,” Emsweller said.
The entire project costs $125,000. SGA has contributed $30,000 of that and the remainder is covered by Student Affairs’ annual renovation budget and the Parents Executive Council’s annual budget.
The Parents Executive Council is a group of UF parents that support a project each year. Most recently they helped support enhancements in the career center. The Council also contributed greatly to the installation of the Shafer Library Knowledge Bar.
This year they chose to support the AMU renovations.
Last summer there were major renovations to Henderson Dining hall. Over winter break, Lovett and Deming halls received lobby-makeovers.
“You want to keep ahead of it a little bit every so many years. That’s why we did the dining hall last summer too. Every three to five years, you need to freshen things up or it gets really tired,” Emsweller said.
SGA President Nick Thompson agreed and said that necessity is exactly why SGA decided to help fund the upgrade.
“SGA feels the AMU renovation is absolutely vital. Even though the center for student life building will be a tremendous addition to campus life, the AMU will still play a big role in the campus community,” Thompson said.
Emsweller said that he always sees the AMU full of students and since students are already frequenting the space, the University must make an effort to keep that space inviting and efficient.
Thompson said that sentiment resonates through campus. That’s why when SGA voted, it was unanimous.
“Whether it’s for studying for an exam, meeting up with friends for coffee, having a meeting for a club, or hosting an event on campus, the AMU needs to remain an inviting and relevant space for students,” Thompson said. “Supporting the project was unanimous as we all felt that this was a crucial way to illustrate to the administration and donors that the student community feels strongly about making this project a success.”
This is not the first time SGA has chipped in to help fund campus renovations.
In the last four years, SGA helped fund the addition of the four tables and light post by the Davis Building fire pit, the Findlay Green Campus’s sensory garden, and the water bottle refill stations in Egner, Davis, and the AMU.
Click to view a PDF of the AMU final order.
