After closing its doors November 21, the Oasis still remains a vacant 103-year-old building. What used to be a small restaurant at the top of Morton Hill ' one of the busiest intersections on campus ' is now an eyesore. The estimated cost to fix the leaking roof, bad plumbing, faulty electricity and broken climate control was about $1.1 million. It was thought then that the Oasis would be closed for six months and reopen under a deficit.
But almost a year later, nothing has happened.
So what about this empty building? The Oasis was not and still is not worth spending a million dollars to renovate. The chances of seeing anything in it this year are pretty slim. The only thing that can take place is just to leave the building alone. When the demand comes, then the university can use it, lease it or sell it. But right now there is no demand, and the building is not the number one priority on the university's agenda.
In Baker University Center's food court, the university tried to pay tribute to some of the Oasis' traditions. But the university disappointed a lot of people. The student support to save the Oasis was enormous. Thousands of students signed petitions in an effort to keep the landmark in its place. There really is not much that can be done about the building now, but perhaps the plan to close the Oasis could have been thought through better in the beginning. The Oasis brought life to University Terrace and Morton Hill. Now, the only sign of life in the empty building is a Chase ATM sitting outside. And this probably will be the only life at the Oasis for awhile.
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Nearly after a year after its closing, The Oasis stands vacant and lifeless
