Updates for Welsh-Ryan proposed
By Diana Scholl
February 09, 2005
The Senior Industrial Engineering class will design renovations to McGaw Hall for its annual project and seeks student suggestions in an online poll.
Located behind Ryan Field, McGaw Hall includes Welsh-Ryan Arena, where the basketball, wrestling and volleyball teams play. The hall also accommodates the baseball team, which holds batting practice there during the winter.
The class will present its proposal to administrators next month. Past projects in Prof. Charles Thompson’s Senior Industrial Engineering class have been successful, such as the indoor tennis facility and WildCARD system. But students have yet to see the fruits of last year’s design project — a bowling alley at Norris University Center. Thompson said about a dozen projects have been implemented since he began teaching the class in 1970.
In the fall, the two-quarter Senior Industrial Engineering Class researched different ways to improve campus and thought of updating McGaw Hall. This proposal beat out a plan to change the CAESAR course registration system to one similar the Kellogg School of Management’s.
The class voted to make McGaw Hall its top priority because it’s a small, outdated facility used by lots of teams, said Fuat Pamukcu, a McCormick senior who is in the class.
“A lot of sports teams are using the same place and it’s tough on them, “Pamukcu said. “We’re looking at renovations to make it bigger or better.”
He said the overall student population would benefit because many attend basketball games, and Northwestern’s stadium is the smallest in the Big 10 with 8,117 seats. Although details are still undecided, one possible change would be to expand the entire stadium to allow for greater student attendance. This year’s sold-out basketball game versus Illinois indicates a need for more seating, he said.
Pamukcu said renovations might also benefit students outside NU. The class is looking at adding locker rooms because visiting teams often change in the bathrooms.
McCormick senior Mark Gill said the class has received positive reactions to the proposal and Director of University Athletics Mark Murphy offered suggestions to make the plan more financially feasible.
“He seems to be on our side, “said Gill. “There are just a lot of restrictions, monetary-wise.”
The class is seeking input about the changes students want to see at the arena through a survey on HereandNow.
“The more students respond, the more likely administrators will be to make a change, “Pamukcu said.
Reach Diana Scholl at [email protected].
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