SUB renovations fail to pass student vote

MSU students voted on Tuesday and Wednesday not to pass a $150 proposed student facility fee to renovate the Strand Union Building (SUB). The Associated Students of MSU (ASMSU) Senate unanimously passed a resolution in support of the fee on March 13, advancing it to a student vote. This fee would have been levied on students taking seven or more credits. 

According to ASMSU president Jacob Zink, ASMSU introduced the project at the beginning of this academic year. The project’s exact details were not fully confirmed, as ASMSU planned to host feedback sessions in the future, according to Zink. However, according to the resolution, the renovations sought to address deferred maintenance needs and add several other amenities. Zink said these renovations would have saved costs in the long run.

According to an April 11 post on the ASMSU Instagram, the renovations would have included a new HVAC system; plumbing, electrical and structural upgrades; more accessible entrances; more student engagement study and meeting spaces. Additionally, their would have been upgrades to the rec center, more windows and more dining and support spaces for campus events. It also would have consolidated offices.

Zink said the project would have been paid off over the next 20 years through the proposed $150 per semester increase to student fees. “It’s essentially a better bang for your buck than any other project on campus, if you think about the dollars spent per service either expanded upon or improved,” Zink said. 

“I think there is a lot of room for improvement in expanding the amount of spaces that are available to students to sit there and study,” said Lenny Triem, an ASMSU senator and co-sponsor of the resolution. “I’ve heard from a lot of students that expanding areas so students can study and expanding the offering of services in the SUB are two big priorities for them.” 

Third-year MSU student Brynn Ryan said she would support the resolution, even if she would not be able to utilize the upgraded building. “It feels outdated, it looks outdated,” she said. According to her, students compare the basement of the SUB to a dungeon. “It doesn’t feel very welcoming,” she said.  

“[The SUB is] some people’s first impression of MSU [and] it should be an awesome place for students to come to and I don’t think it is right now,” she said. Ryan’s interactions with other students — along with feedback that ASMSU received, according to Zink — demonstrated support for more sunlight and windows in the SUB.

Triem and Zink both said that student response to the project was largely positive, but Triem acknowledged that there was negative feedback as well. “Some of the more substantive criticisms have been [that] it’s a pretty expensive ask of students. It’s 150 extra dollars a semester, which I believe has a hard sunset of 20 years.” 

Sophomore Erik Olson said the building does not need more than just maintenance repairs. “$56 million could go a long way in other places. I don’t see a need for more retail if it’s gonna be retail that is highly priced,” he said. “I would definitely support maintenance needs to a certain extent, [and] making it a little bit more of an enjoyable space, but a whole face-lift I think is unnecessary.”

The project would have taken some time to complete, with Zink citing the earliest proposed completion date as no sooner than 2027, but students would still have had access to the SUB during construction. 

As the fee increase did not pass the student vote, plans to renovate the SUB will not move forward. Any future fee increase to this end would have to repeat this same legislative process, according to Zink. 

To learn more about ASMSU resolutions, visit its Instagram @asmsu.bobcats.