Loyola Campus Renos in Limbo

Loyola Student Centre Among Multiple Stalled Projects, CSU Survey to Come

NewsVince Morello — Published January 16, 2017

The SC building, where the Hive Café is located, is at electrical capacity, meaning that no additional outlets or appliances can be added, according to Concordia Student Union Loyola Coordinator Marcus Peters.

In his December executive report, Peters wrote that facilities management is consequently refusing to participate in the installation of any new equipment or appliances.

Peters said he plans to “exhaust” his options and try and work with the school in regards to adding new electrical equipment. He asked if there was an option to reroute power from the Vanier Library, but it is also at electrical capacity.

The only other option according to Peters is to wait until 2019, when the school will re-evaluate the wiring for all buildings on the Loyola campus.

The renovations of the interior of the building, the addition of new counters and sinks, will continue and are on schedule, said Peters.

The plan is to begin work during the summer, and finish before the fall 2017 semester begins.

As for the cost of the project, the CSU has already begun getting quotes. When the final cost of the project is revealed, it will be voted on at a council meeting. If the cost exceeds $250,000 it will go to a referendum.

Peters believes that there is a lack of interest in the administration to address the issues at Loyola.

“It follows a trend. The CSU has been engaged in other projects, notably the greenhouse, which, to be polite, is very delayed,” he said. “It’s just frustrating.”

The talk of a greenhouse at Loyola had been going on since 2013, but a moratorium on the campus—which means that new building or structures cannot be built—suspended the project indefinitely.

The Link reached out to Concordia University for comment, but they could be reached by press time.

CSU Survey

The CSU is working on a survey for students in order to compile a set of data on the students currently attending the university. There will be two parts to the survey. The first will ask questions about where students live, their income, academic standing, and how involved they are with student services and student groups on campus.

The second will ask questions about issues of sexual assault and misgendering, “to create a data set for feminist researchers,” Peters said. “It is designed to both benefit the CSU and services, as well as any community groups,” he explained.

Questions will also involve student perception on the university, in terms of its academic direction.

The survey still has to be approved by council, so an exact timeline of when it will reach students is still unknown.