Students and University officials gathered yesterday for a town meeting to discuss renovations to student facilities like Talley Student Center, Witherspoon Student Center and Price Music Center.

Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Evelyn Reiman opened the meeting, which took place in Talley, by explaining the need for renovations and stressing the need of student suggestions.

“After careful evaluation we concluded that we are not a student center that we can be proud of,” Reiman said. “Our new facilities are only as good as they are shaped by your honest feedback.”

Douglas Moss of Holzman Moss Architecture, which the University contracted to gather information for this project, said the meeting is part of a six- or seven-month process to assess which plans are feasible.

“You have the unique opportunity to shape the kind of environment students will have here at N.C. State in the future,” Moss said.

Simon Huleatt, a senior in business management, said while Talley has some good qualities, it lacks qualities that draw students in.

“What we have here at Talley is good for the campus. We have have theater here and that does sometimes draw a crowd,” Huleatt said. “However, the location is not ideal, and it’s very easy to avoid this building.

Sara Yasin, student centers president, said she can understand why students don’t gather in Talley because she rarely went there as an underclassman.

“It’s a ghost town around here on the weekend,” Yasin, a junior in textile and apparel management, said. “I only came into Talley a few times my freshman year.”

Andrew Hicks, a freshman in textile and apparel management, said officials should model the facility renovations after those recently completed on the East Wing of D.H. Hill Library, and students want something that will catch their eyes.

“There is nothing to attract students when they get off the bus and walk by,” Hicks said. “We are very material. We want more color, more technology, to make it more than just a walk through.”

Hicks suggested that if more options were provided to students for in terms of food options, more would gather in Talley for meals.

“We need more variety and more seating,” Hicks said. “If you were to add a few more restaurants, you would quadruple the number of people who come here.”

Yasin said it is important that a new student center provide visitors with a variety of options in a comfortable environment.

“I’m a procrastinator. I don’t want to decide what I do until I’m actually confronted with the options,” Yasin said. “Students need a space that isn’t cluttered because they don’t want to be intimidated, but they want to do what they want.”

According to Markesce Patton-Williams, a freshman in First Year College, a current problem with the facilities is a lack of available space for student clubs and groups.

“To get a room here you pray for a miracle,” Patton-Williams said.

Yasin expressed similar sentiments, commenting that as the student center is now, students are not getting many of the services they need.

“When it comes to reserving a room, student groups aren’t the priority. It’s very frustrating,” Yasin said. “This campus has just turned into a big yard sale.”

Moss said with the input provided by students and teachers, he will help the University formulate a master plan.

“These were the kind of early comments — we need to determine what to do next,” Moss said.