Corner Post Commentary —
'New Brady' opens to mixed reactions
by Brooklyn Shearer, posted Feb. 13, 2009
Phase one of the new MU Student Center has recently been completed and is open to students and faculty. Workers will soon move on to phase two, which will give the old building a “gut rehab, basically only the support columns will remain,” said Michelle Froese, the center’s spokesperson.
Phase one and phase two will be connected when workers tear down the east wall of phase one in spring of 2011 when phase two is complete.
When Brady was first built in 1963, there was ample room for the 15,000 students on campus. But with student numbers exploding to 30,000 in recent years, the facility was becoming overcrowded.
The downstairs of the “New Brady” is filled with textbooks, and Tiger Tech has made its home there as well, yet it is spacious and easy to move through. The upstairs, however, is the complete opposite. When you walk into the doors and up the stairs, there are bookshelves crammed with school supplies and the aisles are only big enough for Paris Hilton and her new BFF to fit in.
On the upside, the upstairs has a post office, Bank of America with an ATM and live customer service, clothes, magazines and nine check outs.
There is also a "food court" with a few chairs and tables and a smorgasbord of pizza, sushi, chicken sandwiches and drinks. With only enough seating for the popular TLC family, Jon and Kate plus 8, though, the term food court might be an overstatement. At least the new Brady has food right? Right, and students can pay for it with cash, debit or E. Z. charge, but no student charge, dang the luck.
Phase two of the renovation will give more space to the clubs and organizations of Mizzou, more seating and more dining options — sorry guys, no more Chick-fil-A. The dining will be made up of the campus dining services new recipes. Froese said the food selections in phase two will include: pizza, pasta, sushi, sandwich and salad deli, coffee, bakery and BBQ.
That sounds good, but it won’t be completed till 2011. This means students will have to continue dealing with the headaches and inconvenience of an overcrowded facility for two more years.
