BSC vs. Bauman-Eberhardt Center

Tuesday brought the “Oath of Inclusion” for the 2011-2012 Student Government Association executive board and with it – new promises. One of these new promises and goals is the proposal for a new student center at Saint Louis University.
The successful Building Bridges team pivoted its platform on renovating the Bauman-Eberhardt Center into a new student commons. According to the SLU Building Bridges website, the new center would serve as “a place for students of all backgrounds to converge and engage in conversation.”
Matt Ryan, the president-elect of SGA, said that the big picture is to develop a student center focused on global citizenship.
“The center could be a great step for SLU as we take our next step forward in a global world. It would also embody our call in the Jesuit mission, which focuses on holistic education and constant growth," Ryan said.
The center would certainly model after the current union-like space on campus: the Busch Student Center. The BSC has 160,000 square feet of floor space. It contains seven restaurants, the campus bookstore, a mail-center, a bank with an ATM and countless other services and facilities to satisfy the needs of students on and off campus. The BSC, built in 1967, was originally known as the “Busch Memorial Center” and was primarily constructed for meeting spaces. Finally, in 2003 the BSC was renovated into the student space it is now.
This new student center will parallel similar buildings of local universities such as the Wohl Student Center of Washington University in St. Louis and the Millennium Center of University of Missouri St. Louis. Both universities have large student centers to accompany these smaller buildings. The large student centers boast the same type of amenities as the BSC, however, they still have these smaller spaces for students looking for laid back study and hang out spots.
Most students around campus agree that a new student center would be a useful addition to our campus. Sophomore Amanda Meyer said that she would like to see more common gathering space for students.
“The new student center could give us what the BSC now lacks in, which is one giant gathering space,” she said. “I would love to see something that was structured like the [John Cook School of Business] atrium. It should not be as laid back as the BSC, but not as uptight as the library.”
Courtney Anvender, current SGA president, said that the purpose of the new center would be to serve as more of a student commons than a student center. She stated that the Bauman-Eberhardt student center would not try to copy the current facilities of the BSC, but only add to them.
The current proposal is to divide the West Pine Gym in half. One half of the gym will be for speakers and another half will be modeled after the business school atrium. The building is also projected to host some new ethnic food options for all cultures, as well.
According to Anvender, since the idea is just a proposal, no one has a cost estimation or deadline for the project at this time.
Sophomore Hilary Korabik is a resident of the on-campus Village Apartments and finds that she rarely visits the BSC for anything other than a weekly meeting she has there.
“Although the BSC is central to campus, a lot of students live down on [the Vandeventer Avenue] end of campus and find that the BSC is a far way to walk in the cold or rain,” said Korabik. “The new center would provide a place for residents in the Village, Fusz, Marguerite and off-campus apartment buildings to converge, study and just hang out.”
However, not all students believe that this new student center is a necessary or practical addition to our campus. Junior Eric Marin said that funds should be allocated to more pressing issues like student security.
“I personally believe that this idea is not realistic. Although, it seems like a wonderful idea for the students, with the university’s tight budget I don’t think it will happen anytime in the near future,” Marin said.
Some students mentioned their concern for the likelihood of the proposal; they question if the SLU staff will actually carry out the projected plans. Chris Grabau, building manager of the BSC, addressed the students’ concerns.
“Anyway we can cater to the diverse needs to our student community, the better,” Grabau said. “I consider the BSC the front door of campus since there are a whole variety of services, but if a new student center was built, it would definitely add to campus life. I think this idea is feasible as long as it does not try to replicate the BSC, but add to it.”