Syracuse University expects a group of architects to submit a study on possible major renovations to the Schine Student Center by December, one administrator said at a public presentation Wednesday evening.

The event, announced in an SU News release on Tuesday, was billed as a roundtable discussion where students, faculty and staff could provide input on Schine improvement projects.

In a conference room on the building’s second floor, though, only three students attended an hour-and-a-half long presentation on how Schine could fundamentally be redesigned. One Schine employee, Kellen Williams, also sat in for the event.

“If we walk away with three new ideas, that’s going to be really valuable to me,” said Colleen Bench, associate vice president for the division of enrollment and student experience, when asked whether she was disappointed with attendance.

A pipe in Schine broke Monday night, shutting off the building’s air conditioning, Bench said. That could have affected turnout, she said.

Two architecture firms — Mackey Mitchell Architects and Ashley McGraw Architects — are leading a feasibility study on how SU can redesign and improve Schine, Bench said.

Representatives of both firms attended the event on Wednesday. John Burse, a principal with St. Louis-based Mackey Mitchell Architects, flew to Syracuse for the presentation. Burse is an SU alumnus.

Bench said the feasibility study will be submitted to the university by December. The study will include both recommendations and potential concepts for how SU can redesign the building. The university wants to engage donors interested in the project, Bench said.

“We’re just envisioning what could be,” Bench said. “There have been no decisions made on what will happen.”

Officials will present the feasibility study to SU’s Board of Trustees at a May 2018 meeting, though, she said. Bench also said she does not know how much the study costs. Bruce Molino — associate director of planning for Campus Planning, Design and Construction — would know the cost, Bench said.

Molino, the study’s project manager, was not at the event and was not immediately available for comment Wednesday evening.

Daily Orange File Photo

Bench said the study is not part of Chancellor Kent Syverud’s major Campus Framework plan, but then added, “I guess it could be part of the Framework, in that it is going to impact the main campus facade, but it wasn’t built in as an original project of the Framework.”

According to university documents, SU plans to renovate Schine as part of the Campus Framework.

“An addition to the building on the south facade will provide additional space to co-locate many student organization offices,” one report states, referring to Schine.

Officials on Wednesday taped posters with six sets of design concepts to the conference room’s wall. Many of the themes showed spacious, modern construction ideas: plush couches, new amenities such as a fire pit and game tables like one for pool.

Merrilee Hertlein, a principal with Mackey Mitchell Architects, asked students which design they would prefer and why. Two students who stayed for the entire event — another student left at about 7 p.m. — said they liked design concepts with large, open window fronts.

“A patio and a balcony for dining … outdoor access for dining ,” said Tajanae Harris, a sophomore anthropology major, as another addition she would like to see at Schine.

Both Harris and Anna Strait, a junior international relations major, also said they prefered new open space designs to better accommodate the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

The university has held focus group testing for Schine improvements, Bench said. SU will hold a few more roundtables before architects submit the study, she added. One roundtable is tentatively scheduled for some time near the beginning of November. No dates have officially been set.

Published on October 4, 2017 at 11:49 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek