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As the plans for the newly proposed $25 million recreation facility at the University of Maine unfold, students should take note of how the new facility will affect their lives – especially in regards to parking.
Unknown to the average student, the facility’s public forum was held on Thursday, Feb. 12. Student attendance was sparse, which could have been avoided by not holding the public forum at 2:30 p.m. – a rather inconvenient time for students.
At the forum, developers announced that if all goes according to plan, the recreation facility will result in the loss of 400 parking spaces in the back end of the Maine Center for the Arts lot. The plan to compensate for these lost parking spots is a proposed expansion of the Stewart and Hilltop lots. While this sounds promising, to execute the plan, organizers will have to cut into the highly valued university forest. The lot expansions may not be striking at the heart of the forest, but paving valued natural areas of the campus sets a dangerous precedent.
If organizers continue on this plan of action, millions of dollars will go to a recreational center while the academic sphere of the university continues to disintegrate because of lacking funds.
Just this past year, Fogler Library was threatened with the loss of a substantial amount of their periodicals and journals due to budget shortcomings. Yet university officials are approving the creation of a $25 million facility. Rather than pour such a large amount of UMaine’s finite budget into something we do not really need, why not expand and renovate Latti Fitness Center and the Memorial Gym?
If the creation of a recreational center is to go forward, organizers should thoroughly consider the repercussions of their plans so that they don’t end up damaging the university more than they improve it.
Bangor Daily News