With the final recommendations for Ohio University’s multipurpose center submitted last spring to President Roderick McDavis, the committee was dissolved after fulfilling its goal of compiling a list of what should be in the center.
The final recommendation included a football field in a building that will fit in with the OU campus aesthetic and will most likely be made of steel, said Dan Quarfoot, former student senator for athletic affairs and a committee member.
Quarfoot said he would have no hesitations to join a committee similar to the multipurpose committee should the need for another one arise. He said it was great to be able to work on a committee that allowed for students to be involved.
“I thought that everyone was very professional,” he said. “It was just a little frustrating. … Honestly it was kind of hard because we didn’t know how much money we had … we knew what the grant was, but we weren’t sure what other money would be used for fundraising. So that limited what we were able to do.”
Quarfoot said that by the end of his time with the committee, they were meeting every week or two to discuss the plans.
“If we stuck to the agenda, we were going to meet every month,” he said. “We met a lot more than we planned on originally, so I really wouldn’t change that whole setting.”
The multipurpose center was funded by a donation from Robert and Margaret Walter, who donated $10 million in December 2010. A small portion of the donation is to be used to fund renovations in The Convo.
In addition to the $10 million, fundraising efforts have also been made by the athletics department to raise more money for the center.
“We knew the funding would be limited,” said Kent Smith, vice president for Student Affairs and member of the committee. “So we submitted the best report that we could in terms of the recommendations based on the money that we were estimating the building would cost.”
Smith said the thing that he admired most about the committee was the fact that they worked so well together.
“We put in a lot of time and effort in identifying what was best for the university,” he said.
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