The plan for a new student center on campus took a step forward last week when Holzman Moss Architecture, the firm the University contracted to work on the Student Centers project, presented preliminary plans to various student groups.

Members of the Student Centers Board stressed that the plans were still in their beginning stages and could undergo many changes before construction begins.

The new plan calls for some significant changes from the current Talley and Witherspoon Student Centers.

The plan details one large student center, which will be constructed around the current Talley Student Center. In the plan, the new student center will include the Campus Cinema, Student Media and Student Government offices, which will all move from the Witherspoon Student Center.

According to this preliminary first stage plan, Witherspoon will remain the home of the African American Cultural Center and the offices of Student Conduct. The plan also calls for possible renovations or removal of Price Music Center and the campus bookstore. The music program would move to Witherspoon Student Center.

The plan also suggests more space for student services and lounges in the new student center.

Student Centers Board President Diana Douglas said that these services are important to implementing the new student center’s role as a “unifying spot on campus. “

“My hope is that the new student center will unify the campus more with a centralized student center that has comfortable lounges, student meeting spaces, more food options, gaming/computer access and various other resources for students,” she said.

Douglas said her goal is to make sure the new student center becomes a “desire destination” for students by providing them with high-quality services.

The plan is the result of several months of work following a town hall meeting held in March to solicit suggestions from students, according to Douglas.

Evelyn Reiman, associate vice chancellor for student affairs and adviser to the Student Centers Board of Directors, said student input was integral to the project because it has the potential to help many student groups.

“When we first started coming up with our master plan, we took a look at the current functions of the student centers, [and] then had some conversations with different groups and departments on what their needs for space were,” she said. “We then looked at how we might go about renovating and building to enhance it.”

Under a new plan, the architecture firm will construct a foot bridge over the railroad tracks that separate North and Central Campus.

“The pedestrian bridge fit into the new student center plan as a connection between Central and North Campus,” Douglas said. “This bridge would also be useful in relieving pedestrian congestion from the tunnels, namely the freedom expression tunnel.”

Reiman said that one part of the plan that was challenging for the committee was trying to connect services on different campuses, including Centennial Campus.

“When we started looking at Centennial Campus, we had to look at what degree we were going to duplicate services on each campus and to what degree are we going to consolidate,” Reiman said.

Sara Yasin, who served as Student Centers president during the initial planning phases this past spring, said that the new student center was necessary to help improve the University’s image.

“The problem with the student centers right no is that they aren’t complimentary to student life,” Yasin said. “People don’t go to Talley because they want to hang out. They just eat and leave. That’s not the way it is at some other universities, and the administration recognized that.

Yasin said the solution to the problem is a lot more than moving around furniture, but fixing the building itself.

“The student center represents the school, and it’s ugly right now,” she said. “It’s not a good representation of our school.”

According to Douglas, the board will continue to accept suggestions from students. The financing of the new project is still being discussed as well, and no definite date for the beginning of construction has been set. But the construction will take place in phases, Douglas said, to minimize the disruption for students, faculty, staff and visitors.

While the process is long from over, Reiman said she was already impressed with the work that Holzman Moss and the board had done on the project.

“We wanted to make sure that we listened carefully to what students wanted, and tried to provide for students,” Reiman said. “They’ve done a terrific job.”