(Editor’s Note: This is the first article in a two-part series about the student recreation center.)
University officials expect the student recreation center to open in fall 2012 if students approve a self-assessed operational fee.
The proposed fee would assess students no more that $78 per fall/spring semester and $20 during the summer session. The University would not begin collecting the fee until the semester the student recreation center opens.
The fee, if assessed at the full amount, would generate about $1 million dollars in one year, which would be dedicated to the operational costs associated with the building. Those costs include the salaries of staff and student workers, supplies and utilities.
Eugene Dial, vice president for student affairs and enrollment services, said the existing fee is no longer able to support the cost of both construction and operation of the building.
“The only way we can generate a source to build the facility is a student-assessed fee,” Dial said. “If the fee doesn’t pass, it will put construction of the building further out.”
Nicholls is the only public, four-year university in the state without a student recreation center, Dial said.
When the current student recreation center fee was established in 2003, the building was expected to cost about $9.5 million. Currently, the cost of constructing the building is estimated at $18.74 million.
Nicholls will continue to collect the current fee until the University has enough money to pay for the construction of the building. The University has collected $6.6 million since the fee was assessed.
Portions of the building had to be redesigned to comply with new building codes passed by the state after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which delayed construction and was responsible for some of the increased construction costs, Dial said.
The Student Government Association started hosting information sessions about the recreation center today in Le Bijou Theatre to provide students the opportunity to view a PowerPoint presentation on the proposed fee and ask questions before voting.
Student elections will be held online April 19-21.
