By Victor Dixon, Editor-in-Chief
Newman’s administration is working on a plan to revive the heart of campus.
The full Sacred Heart Revitalization Project will be done in three phases over the course of several years. However, the details of the project will be determined as the university receives the money it needs for the project.
As the historic building nears the end of its first century, the main goals are to make sure that its structure will last 100 more years and to bring student involvement back into the center of campus, said Bob Beumer, vice president for Institutional Advancement.
Sacred Heart was the first building on campus, originally built in 1933, when Newman was Sacred Heart Junior College.
The first phase of the project will replace the building’s aging windows with new energy efficient ones. Money already has been raised for that portion of renovation, which will be scheduled soon. The rest of this phase will include repairing some of the building’s HVAC tunnels.
The next stages, while not completely laid out, should include moving and updating several offices, including moving the Student Life office in the Dugan Library, to the basement of Sacred Heart in the space now being used as a golf practice room.
Newman also plans on renovating the elevator, adding more entrances with graduated walkways, and fixing some water drainage issues. The Marian Grotto will be relocated near the outer South side of DeMattias with the newly repaired statue. This part of the project has already been started.
“We really want to preserve the future of the heartbeat of campus, make sure the building is strong structurally and will last a hundred years,” Beumer said. “And in doing that, we want to make sure that we’re making it as friendly and accessible for students as possible.”
Some students, though, say they feel like relocating Student Life would be inconvenient.
“I don’t know how visible they would be,” said junior Eliana Gaytan. “It seems like they currently occupy a space where students are naturally around.”
Although some people would likely continue to visit Student Life, some say its current area gets more foot traffic from students who otherwise would not go there.
“I definitely think people would still go,” said junior Alysha Keck. “I just feel like the basement of Sacred Heart feels less accessible. I do like that right now it’s connected to Student Success and the library, so I think there’s a lot more people who pass through and see the other people and hang out there.”
PHOTOS: Courtesy, Newman Today
