In a recent document released in July of this year by the Federation of Students, a new student-run building has been proposed for construction on the Grad House green. The main concerns expressed by students in an online survey are related to the inconvenience presented by long term construction at the centre of south campus, the removal of vital green space, and the impact on the Grad House. On top of this, engineering students should be particularly concerned because this building will be constructed in, what is largely, our corner of campus.
In response to concerns of diminishing green space in south campus, the report merely cited that students want to preserve green space and provided no solution as to how this could be done. Firstly, the Grad House green is some of the only green space located near the ‘engineering corner’ of campus. Largely dominated by utilitarian, ugly, brick buildings, the green space near the Grad House is one of the few serene spaces engineers can go to relax and take a break from the stress of studying. Also, this green space is by no means expansive. Covering a space that is approximately forty metres by forty metres, Grad House green is a compact contrast from the bustle that is south campus. Constructing a building of any meaningful size on this plot of land without making the green space negligible would be impossible. This is especially true for a four story building containing a cafeteria, a study area, club rooms, and offices. If this building is constructed there will be no more green space in south campus. This is unhealthy and unfair to all the students of the University of Waterloo, but especially the engineering students, whom for the most part already put up with a dank, scholarly environment.
The proposal also provides a serious threat to the Grad House, one of the few buildings on campus with a storied history. The building was at one point a farmhouse located in south campus, and now operates as a private club mainly for graduate students with regular, live entertainment. Although it may be possible to prevent demolition of the Grad House, the atmosphere surrounding the property will be destroyed. Instead of looking out to trees and green space, members of the Grad House (who, for the record, are some of the University’s most distinguished students) will instead have the pleasure of looking at the new FedS building. The destruction of the green space enjoyed by graduate students is made even more painful by the fact that most of the services and clubs provided in the new building will be geared towards undergraduate students, and will provide graduates with little benefit.
One of the largest worries expressed by students was an extended period of construction that impedes movement into the core of campus from the south, or vice-versa. This concern is well warranted. Building a four-story building in the heart of south campus is going to take at least a year. An entire school year will be dominated by construction-related traffic in the form of dump trucks, bulldozers and equipment. Moreover, there will be a lot of construction-related noise that will surely be heard from South Campus Hall, J. R. Coutts Hall, Douglas Wright Engineering, Dana Porter, and the Tatham Center. Also, the Grad House will surely have to be closed for an extended period of time as construction and movement will become much more difficult as students will likely be corralled through narrow pathways and scaffolding during the peak of construction. Delays, inconveniences, and general distraction during classes and studying will become a major problem.
One of the most relevant issues to all Waterloo students is how the costs of what will surely be a financial behemoth will be passed on to tuition. Any predictions on how this will affect how much it will cost students to attend the University is purely speculation. However, it will surely be a multi-million dollar project that will likely get passed on to the students. The real question a current student has to ask, are there not better things for the school to spend money on, then what will essentially be a duplicate of the Student Life Centre complex? This is an especially valid question for those students in engineering because it is largely our corner of campus that is getting ripped apart to construct this building.
The first floor of the building will essentially be a replica of the Student Life Centre, complete with food kiosks, social seating and an information centre. The second floor will consist largely of FedS offices and what are only described as ‘services’. The third floor will be for ‘study’, while the fourth floor will consist of space for clubs. None of these attributes, other then those on the first floor, will play a significant role in the lives of engineers at this university. To be frank, engineers have a tendency to participate in engineering-related activities, clubs, and events. Most of these events lie within the confines of our engineering buildings and in our corner of campus. As for study areas, complaints of a lack of study space at our school are largely unwarranted. Unbeknownst to most students, most classrooms inside the engineering buildings remain largely vacant during exam times and provide ideal areas for quiet or group study. As far as ‘social seating’ is concerned, all this building would do is take away a serene social setting and replace it with a loud, high volume indoor environment. Why should we give up one of the only nice areas of the engineering corner of campus for a building that will do very little for us?
The reality is that the green space surrounding the new FedS building is one of the few areas in a convenient location of campus that remains undeveloped. The threat of development in this location will remain present even if the proposed Federation of Students building is never built. What we must ask ourselves, especially as engineers, is: why would we support a building that destroys the one area of serenity in our corner of campus, threatens the storied Grad House, would provide at least a year’s worth of construction-related headaches, and provide very little to help the interests of engineering? I sincerely hope the university takes into account the issues I have raised and subsequently rejects this proposal; not only will this building destroy the Grad House green, but it will also take away the little bit of soul and character left in what is largely the engineering corner of campus.
Leave a Reply