The Schine Renovation Feasibility Study will continue in the upcoming weeks, and suggestions to improve the student experience in the center will be analyzed.

The study, which incorporates student feedback, examines how the Schine Student Center could be more beneficial for SU students. SU hired the firm Architecture Research Office to complete the study.

Architecture Research Office will use the information from the study to develop the best schemes for modernizing Schine, said Eric Beattie, director of the Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction, in an email. The student survey, presentations to student organizations and Q-and-A sessions have been helpful, he said.

The committee will take a closer look at the study and its recommendations, Beattie said, He added the study’s findings will be discussed at the Board of Trustees meeting in November.

The student survey included questions about the frequency of visiting the student center, reasons for going to the student center and what new features students would appreciate, Beattie said.

The survey, he said, found that about 50 percent of the survey respondents estimated they visit Schine once per week; 25 percent estimated they visit Schine daily; and 15 percent estimated they visit Schine once a month.

In the study, the top three features that were recommended were a 24-hour study space, grab-and-go food options and an ATM, Beattie said.

Other suggestions included extending hours of operation for dining and studying, as well as social activities. Students also suggested to have study spaces that have the same amount of quiet study areas, group study spaces and lounge areas, he said.

Currently, Architecture Research Office is developing “schemes” — potential layouts for the student center renovations.

To date, there are five potential schemes, according to Architecture Research Office’s website. The firm describes Schine’s current structure as one that “severs any connection at large.”

The five schemes include:

• Keeping the bookstore, no theater
• Keeping the bookstore, underground theater
• New “student-only” building, underground theater
• New building, theater
• Extra floor, new building, theater

Schemes 1-5 grow progressively more expensive, according to the firm’s website.

“As the benefits and challenges of schemes have become clearer, the number of schemes are likely to be reduced to two or three by the time the feasibility study is concluded,” Beattie said.

Each of the original five schemes proposed different amounts of construction work, he said, some of them including demolishing and repurposing the wing where the current bookstore is located.

While no scheme has been chosen yet for the renovations, Beattie said the leading contenders are ones that place student activities, student services and food venues in close proximity to Schine’s main entrance.

He added that it is unlikely the final results of the study will encourage demolishing any of the existing structure. But, Beattie said, the amount of reorganization of “program functions and circulation” within the building is still subject to further consideration.

A schedule has not been established for the renovations to the student center. Beattie said the project will most likely be completed in phases to avoid a “complete shutdown” of Schine.

He said the first phase will probably begin after the bookstore moves out of the student center and into its new location on University Avenue.

Published on August 27, 2013 at 2:37 am

Contact Meredith: mhnewman@syr.edu | @MerNewman93