{"id":1634,"date":"2017-01-06T21:45:12","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T21:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/?p=1634"},"modified":"2019-06-12T10:23:57","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T15:23:57","slug":"campus-improvements-greet-students-this-past-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/2017\/01\/06\/campus-improvements-greet-students-this-past-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus Improvements Greet Students This Past Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em>Several renovation and improvement projects greeted students when they returned to campus this past fall. The largest, most noticeable projects were in the Blum Union, Looney Complex and Potter Hall.<\/p>\n

Blum Union
\n<\/strong>Improved services for students was the purpose behind recent renovations of the second floor of the Blum Union. Over the summer, several offices, including the Multicultural Education Center, Center for Student Involvement and International Student Services, were reconfigured and rearranged.\"blum-renovations_cme_csi\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The hallways were also painted and new carpet was installed, as well as ceiling tiles.<\/p>\n

By the time the renovation was complete, three new offices were built, two small offices were removed, and one hallway was closed off and became part of a new suite of offices.<\/p>\n

International Student Services, which had been sharing offices with the Center for Multicultural Education, now has its own office suite.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the new suite of offices for the Center for Student Involvement has a new glass front wall and greets students when they come up the stairs that are located between the cafeteria and food court on the first floor.<\/p>\n

New furniture for the second floor lounge was also purchased.<\/p>\n

Just outside of the Blum Union, a large Griffon now enhances the sidewalk.<\/p>\n

\"sidewalk-griffon-016\"<\/a>Senior Jacob Teasley, who served as a student senator, said he and a fellow senator were walking around campus a couple years ago looking for ways to improve its appearance and add more color to the campus. They wanted something that would raise school spirit, and also benefit both students and alumni.<\/p>\n

They decided on a Griffon, and figured that the circular juncture of several sidewalks outside the union was a good place for it. The artwork was placed in an approximately 40-feet-diameter circle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe consider it a gift to Missouri Western from the Student Government Association for the centennial,\u201d Teasley said. \u201cWe wanted a \u2018wow factor,\u2019 and I think we got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teasley said he heard great feedback from students when they arrived back on campus for the fall semester. He credits the physical plant; Shana Meyer, vice president of Student Affairs; and Jessica Frogge, administrative coordinator for SGA; with helping him with the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy with it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a great gift for the centennial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looney Complex Pool
\n<\/strong>Major repairs were made to the Looney Complex pool over the summer, the area surrounding it received a major renovation and the pool was named for a former United States Senator.\"looney-pool-ribbon-cut-70\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At the Aug. 30 dedication ceremony to unveil the pool renovation, it was announced that the pool would be named \u201cThomas Eagleton Indoor Pool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Eagleton, a native of St. Louis, served as the Attorney General of Missouri from 1961-1965, the Lieutenant Governor of Missouri and President of the Missouri Senate from 1965-1968, and a United States Senator from Missouri from 1968-1987.<\/p>\n

In 1965, as Lieutenant Governor, he was instrumental in passing the House bill that made Missouri Western a four-year institution.<\/p>\n

As a U.S. Senator, he secured federal building funds to help with the construction of Missouri Western\u2019s new campus. Some of those funds enabled the college to build a swimming pool in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Building (now the M.O. Looney Complex) which opened in 1970.<\/p>\n

\"looney-pool-dedication-066\"<\/a>Sen. Eagleton was also the guest speaker at Missouri Western\u2019s 1974 commencement ceremony.<\/p>\n

In 1987, Sen. Eagleton returned to Missouri as an attorney, political commentator, and professor of public affairs at Washington University in St. Louis.<\/p>\n

In 2003, he gave the eulogy at the memorial service that was held on campus for State Sen. John Downs \u201935. Sen. Eagleton passed away in 2007.<\/p>\n

A plaque and display in Sen. Eagleton\u2019s honor is in the entryway of the pool.<\/p>\n

Total cost for the project was nearly $600,000, which was paid for with student fees.<\/p>\n

Thanks to a partnership between Missouri Western, the City of St. Joseph, Buchanan County and the St. Joseph School District, the pool is now open to the public at least 30 hours per week.<\/p>\n

Because of that change, a new storefront entry and ticket office were created that allows patrons to enter directly from the outside. Also, the entire pool shell interior, pool deck and locker rooms were renovated, and a family restroom and changing area were added.<\/p>\n

Discussions about the future of the swimming pool began in 2014, and at that time the future didn\u2019t look promising, according to Shana Meyer, Missouri Western\u2019s vice president for student affairs, who spoke at the dedication ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that time, we were facing lifeguard shortages; pool usage was at an all-time low; and the pool was leaking an astronomical five gallons of water every 45 seconds,\u201d Meyer said at the dedication ceremony. \u201cMultiple public forums, petitions, letters, and discussions later, it seemed that the closing of the Looney pool was inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meyer and Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western\u2019s president, thanked St. Joseph Mayor Bill Falkner and the Missouri Western Board of Governors for stepping in with an 11th<\/sup>-hour proposal to save the pool with the assistance of the community partners.<\/p>\n

Potter Hall
\n<\/strong>Thanks to a Missouri House bill to fund capital improvements, $325,000 was spent on Potter Hall over the summer of 2016 for new ceiling tiles and carpeting in the main corridors, and heating and cooling improvements. Additional funds that had been raised in the Centennial Capital Campaign were used to carpet and paint the band and choir rooms, a classroom and conference room.<\/p>\n

Potter Hall is one of the focuses of the Centennial Capital Campaign. As funds are raised, classrooms will be expanded and renovated as Phase I. Phase II includes plans for an addition of a performance center and lobby.<\/p>\n

The state Legislature recently provided $150,000 as a 50\/50 match for the design, planning and architectural study of the renovation. The matching funds will be provided from donations raised in the Centennial Capital Campaign.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several renovation and improvement projects greeted students when they returned to campus this past fall. The largest, most noticeable projects were in the Blum Union, Looney Complex and Potter Hall. Blum Union Improved services for students was the purpose behind recent renovations of the second floor of the Blum Union. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,37],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1634"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4376,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634\/revisions\/4376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}