Since receiving a lead gift of $8 million from Robert and Margaret Walter in December 2010, Ohio Athletics headed up efforts to construct a multipurpose center on campus. Despite its efforts, though, chief control of the facility’s planning changed hands earlier this month.
OU President Roderick McDavis made the decision to transfer lead power for the facility from Athletics to the Division of Student Affairs, said Ryan Lombardi, interim vice president for Student Affairs.
The university pledged this summer to use General Fee funds to add a four-lane, $1.5 million track and pay $250,000 for annual maintenance.
“I just think (McDavis) realizes the role Student Affairs plays for all our students,” Lombardi said. “And I think other than the broad notion is (that) it really is multipurpose, it just ensures that kind of equity upon all the stakeholders.”
Athletics will still be heavily involved in the multipurpose center’s planning process, but the final stamp of approval now belongs to Lombardi instead of Director of Athletics Jim Schaus.
The move will likely be a popular one with students, said Student Senate President Zach George. He added he will likely be involved in future facility deliberations in some capacity.
“Initially, I was concerned that if we chipped in money, we would still only get to use
(the multipurpose center) at obscure hours,” he said. “It’s a win-win situation.”
Schaus said at Wednesday’s Student Senate meeting that he still expects the facility to open by Fall Semester 2013, per its initial timeline. Lombardi echoed his initiative but said that there are too many variables to tell if that’s a realistic possibility.
The next step for the facility’s stakeholders, which include Student Affairs, Athletics, Intramural Sports and faculty representatives, among others, is choosing an architect — a process Lombardi said could begin within a month.
He also said the multipurpose center’s planned use will not fundamentally change under new leadership.
“It’s really the management and operation of (the facility) on a day-to-day basis that is now handed over,” Lombardi said.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
