News in brief: RMC renovations planned

By Jennifer Shen     2/3/11 6:00pm

RMC renovations planned

The Student Center Renovation Committee, formed by the Student Assocation in spring 2010, has been meeting to discuss how the RMC can be renovated in the next five years, what the obstacles will be and how much it will cost. Over the past semester, the committee has conducted research on the two renovation plans drawn out in 1994 and 2006 and conducted an online survey of the Rice community's opinions on the renovation, SCRC Chair Carl Nelson said.The SA collected raw data from the survey on Monday. Nelson, the SA's external vice president and a Brown College senior, said more than 800 people participated in the survey, but the compiled results will not be out for a few weeks. The majority of the participants were undergraduates. Around 100 graduate students and a little more than 100 staff, as well as a small number of faculty also participated.

The survey result will be an integral part of the any renovations that occur.

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"We imagine the architects that design a new student center will take the results of our survey into account," Nelson said.

Even though the SCRC may put more weight on the student body's opinion, Nelson said the committee will try to meet everyone's needs.

Judging by the $17 million renovation estimate for 2006's planned renovations, SCRC anticipates that the renovating cost for the next few years will be around $20 million, Nelson said. SCRC will talk to the Asset Liquidation Funds Appropriations Committee, which is in charge of gathering student opinion on how money from the KTRU sale should be spent, about the possibility of getting some of the money from the KTRU sale for renovation.

SCRC also plans to eventually draw a floor plan for how RMC will look after the renovations are complete.

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