Update, March 27: Come out to the McInnes Room, Student Union Building, on Wednesday, April 3 (doors at 7, presentations at 7:30 p.m.) to hear from the project team about programming recommendations and next steps for Dalhousie鈥檚 new fitness and recreation facilities.
If you鈥檝e seen a set of colourful poster boards making the rounds on campus recently, it鈥檚 well worth your while to stop and check them out 鈥� especially if you have ideas or opinions about fitness, recreation and athletics at Dal.
The project team responsible for planning a major revamp to Dal鈥檚 fitness and recreation facilities is taking its consultations on the road. Over the course of two weeks, the team will visit 13 different locations on Dal鈥檚 Halifax campuses, chatting with students and community members about what they鈥檇 like to see included in their plans.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very high level conversation,鈥� explains Nathan Rogers, capital development planner at Dal, chatting with Dal News on Friday during a drop-in session in the Student Union Building lobby.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about determining needs and collecting information about what people want to see 鈥� a 鈥榳ish list,鈥� pretty much 鈥� so that when it comes time to start prioritizing what should be included, we can focus on the ideas that students and our community more broadly are passionate about,鈥� he says.
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Making improvements
Dal students are passionate about recreation and fitness 鈥� but in recent years, a good deal of that passion has been in the negative direction. A 2006 survey found widespread dissatisfaction with the state of university鈥檚 facilities, and in the most recent Canadian University Survey Consortium survey (a national assessment of student satisfaction) Dal students rated athletics facilities far lower than any other campus service.
鈥淧eople are disappointed with the current condition of the facilities,鈥� says Rogers, when asked what he鈥檚 hearing from the students he鈥檚 talking with. 鈥淏ut they鈥檙e optimistic about the future. We鈥檙e getting some great responses.鈥�
Upgrading and expanding athletics and recreation facilities is one of the pillars of . In April 2010, the Board of Governors approved a $180 fitness and recreation facility fee to support building of new facilities, but the fee won鈥檛 be implemented until a new facility is actually open. The location of a new facility is still to be determined 鈥� options could include the Memorial Arena site, the current site of Eliza Ritchie Hall or elsewhere 鈥� which is one reason why Rogers and his team are eager to chat with students at this point.
鈥淲e have a chance to think outside the box a bit,鈥� says Rogers. 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking for any and all feedback.鈥�
, you can chat with a representative from the project team or respond to a series of big questions on the poster boards, adding their own notes to the discussion. Others have been sharing their ideas on Twitter, with the hashtag . There have also been consultations with Dal employees and Dalplex members.
The consultants working on the project 鈥� Halifax architects Fowler Bauld & Mitchell Ltd., in partnership with Toronto-based MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects 鈥� will review all the ideas and share a draft program, outlining their plan for what the new facilities could include, . 聽
鈥淚t's an opportunity for students and the broader university community to let us know if we got it right,鈥� says Rogers.
From there, the goal is to have a finalized program and a chosen site for the new facilities by year鈥檚 end, with a schematic design by early 2014.