The Facilities Fee Committee now has the full support of the student government and can vote on the proposal that could create up to 10 new intramural fields.
The University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) voted to back the decision made last week by the Facilities Fee Committee to move forward with one of the plans to use some of the money collected by the Facilities Fee.
Director of Campus Planning and Design for the Office of Physical Plant Gordon Turow presented the preliminary plans for the IM fields if the plan is voted into action by the committee.
The fields, Turow said, would be constructed on 10 to 11 acres of land currently used for grazing and football parking, off of Park Avenue and University Drive. They would be adjacent to where some IM fields currently are, he said.
Student-formed intramural teams, club sports and summer camps would be the major groups to use the field, Turow said. He added that the land up for conversion would include room for storage, restrooms and a first-aid center.
The estimated cost for the fields is between $2.5 and $3.5 million, Turow said. He outlined what would ideally be the schedule for the fields' creation and said they could be completed by 2011. If the committee passes the proposal, the surveying and design process will begin, Turow said.
"When we get the word, we're ready to go," he said.
UPUA Student Life and Diversity Chairman Christian Ragland honored four organizations that his committee has worked with over the course of the fall semester in their collaborative effort to promote the prevention of sexual assault and violence on campus.
The committee thanked Peers Helping Reaffirm, Educate and Empower (PHREE), the Student Minority Advisory and Recruitment Team, Knitivism and Men Against Violence for their dedication to "getting out the message" about sexual assault and violence on campus.
Ragland (junior-political science) said it was a privilege to work with each of the organizations and looks forward to further collaboration.
"As a student government, we need to recognize student groups that are doing good," he said.
In his report, UPUA president Gavin Keirans addressed two of the organization's major initiatives. The search committee for a director of Legal Services that will include Director of the Assembly Samantha Miller (senior-political science) and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Colleen Smith (sophomore-political science) has been pushed back two weeks, he said. But Keirans (senior-business management) said he is excited to see it get up and running and in place for the spring semester.
Additionally, Keirans said he is continuing meetings regarding the extended-hours Highlands Loop bus service in an effort to find a reliable means of transportation for students at night. UPUA is currently looking into finding a similar route if not the originally proposed Loop, Keirans said.
