The changing face of Santa Clara

By Cara Quackenbush

With many campus programs in need of space, the new business school is only part of the school's master plan for its facilities. Also included is a long-awaited new library and two additional Sobrato-like residence halls.

"Our primary consideration is making sure we have facilities that match the student population," Vice Provost Dr. Philip Riley said. "Students expect to have updated and good facilities. Malley is a good example of that."

Plans for a new 168,000 sq. foot, $80 million building to be called "Information Services," will house the library, media services and the information technology department. Hoping for a 2004 opening, the building's components continue to be explored and solidified, according to Chief Information Officer Ron Danielson.

"I think we're lagging behind in the types of services other institutions offer," Don Ackerland, director of planning and projects, said. "It's a 1960s-era building which doesn't really accommodate the way we do business."

Library Reserve Specialist Cindy Borkenhagen, a Santa Clara alumna who has worked at the library for more than 12 years, agreed.

"This library is pre-computer," she said. "I was here from '69 to '73 and it seemed wonderful then ... the beautiful staircase, the marble floors."

Borkenhagen cited temperature control, chronic plumbing failures, basement flooding in and a lack of stack space as some of the building's main problems. Danielson added that he's received numerous complaints regarding its dark interior and poor air circulation.

Currently, the most viable location for a new library building is its current plot. Danielson said that the possibility of simply remodeling the old one was considered but was discarded since it would cost more to renovate then to tear it down and rebuild it.

According to Danielson, plans call for high-end technology rooms with additional lab space, and staff available to provide help to students. Plans also call for a caf� � something that Danielson says is increasingly prevalent in similar structures around the country.

"If you're running an all-night operation, it's nice not to have to run out of the building and get a cup of coffee," he said.

Danielson also mentioned that the administration is considering the possibility of keeping part of the building open for students 24 hours a day, something he said is impossible to do with the current structure.

Despite her excitement at the thought of a new building Borkenhagen leaves behind many memories in the old one.

"I have affection toward this building. I was a day student so I studied here all the time. So I'll kind of miss it," she said. "If you think about all of the people who come in and out of this building over all those years, I think its held up really well."

HOUSING RELIEF

Also included in the University's master plan are phase two and three of the residence halls, or what Riley prefers people call "residential learning communities."

Phases two and three now call for Sobrato-like suites without kitchens and a total of about 220 beds. Sugg said that they hope to break ground this Spring, and open the building to underclassmen in fall of 2003.

Originally, plans called for two apartment-style residence halls to be built in the area where Kids on Campus and the Art Building currently stand. But due to the underclassmen housing shortage these plans have recently changed.

"We anticipate even more students will be moving on campus in the next few years," Riley said.

Currently, the University guarantees housing to incoming freshman, but as Riley pointed out, they are committed to providing housing to sophomores as well � as proven by the University putting students up in hotels.

According to Riley these new buildings will provide more places for students, both those who live in the dorms and those who do not, to gather and interact. This includes more open entryways, as well as classrooms to bring outside students in - much like the design of Sobrato.

"Instead of night repositories for students, they will be a place where students can hang out," Sugg said.

They will also help provide meeting places for residential learning communities. In fall 2000 the administration established residential learning communities in every residence hall so that every freshman comes through one.

"Some [residential learning communities] have been robust and others have been bare bones," Riley said. "Now we're trying to intensify that experience."

Along with the buildings, Sugg also said that the university is planning to block off the road that runs through campus from El Camino Real to Market Street. Once blocked off and filled in with grass and park benches with Internet access for laptop computers, the facilities department plans to officially name it "Accolti Way."

According to Sugg, "Nobili was the guy who founded Santa Clara University. The other Jesuit with him was Accolti."

LEAVEY'S SPRING DEADLINE

Renovations to the Leavey facility, should be completed in April. Currently, the gym and seating for 5,000 is open for basketball season, which began Oct. 28.

The part of Leavey still under construction will contain a new concession stand, a weight room for intercollegiate athletes, 40,000 square feet of office space for coaches and administrators, and a sky box on the top level.

Athletic Director Cheryl Levick said that the renovations have given Leavey a "big-time athletic feel" and is something the athletes are proud of.

"In terms of the best quality, [the Leavey Center] is right up in the highest 10 percent of our conference," Levick said. "We really feel it will be a model for other schools in our conference to follow."