With a vote of 597 for and 363 against, the recreational center referendum passed, with 63 percent of the voting student body in favor of the center.
“I am glad that the students voted to have vision for the University,” Mike Matherne, director of campus recreation, said.
“I can think of a few projects on campus that have as much potential to change positively the quality of life on campus than the recreational center project, not just for students, but for faculty, staff and alumni as well.”
The recreation center failed the first time it went up for student vote last spring. Through the efforts of Student Government Association Senator Michael Childs, the center was placed back on the ballot for this voting term.
“I really applaud the efforts of Senator Michael Childs,” Matherne said.
“He passed a petition around in the spring time to put it back on the ballot. The effort was definitely student driven and it was very heartening to have Michael pass a petition to rally the students to say we want to give this another shot, we want to make Nicholls a better place.”
Matherne said that when the center failed, he had no intentions of putting it back on to the ballot. Matherne had accepted the job of being the facilitator of the project from former SGA President Scott Duplantis. Because senators and executive board members of the SGA would no longer be in office because of time constraints, Duplantis asked Matherne to make sure that the job was done.
“We don’t place any greater value than the students’ right to decide on this issue,” he said. “There was a great forum that happened the week of the election and a lot of good dialogue happened there for both opponents.”
“I think that with the TOPS program, more incoming freshman have the opportunity to attend the university of their choice. I think that more and more incoming students are touring different universities and seeing what they have to offer. I think those students had a huge voice in the spring election.”
The student self-assessed fee will go into effect this spring, but a ground-breaking date has yet to be decided.
“We have not set a specific date yet. I am meeting with the Vice President for Student Affairs [Eugene Dial] on Friday to hopefully put together some solid timelines,” Matherene said.
There will also be a panel of students, faculty and staff members to serve as an advisory board through out the duration of the project.
“Now is the time that the students will work with us, and the architect as well, to say what they really want in the building. We voted on a model last week that was a very common model that was true to most recreational centers,” Matherne said.
Mike Davis, assistant vice president for business affairs, will handle the bid process for the project and also deal with the capital outlay for the legislature.
There have already been two meetings to expedite the project, and University administration is working toward bringing the concept to fruition.
Matherne said they are working hard to do every thing possible to actually have a facility “very shortly.”