The Omnibus

Issue date: 5/13/04 Section: News

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After each chapel service in Pike Auditorium, hundreds of Southwest Baptist University students shove their way through the aisles in an attempt to scan their student ID cards and hustle to class. The congestion in Pike needs to be fixed according to many SBU students and staff.

Media Credit: Audrey Garrett Phi Beta Lambda plans to remodel Pike Auditorium.

Phi Beta Lambda, a collegiate student organization for students in business or business-related majors, has decided to sponsor a partial renovation of Pike as a service project. PBL is a national, non-profit organization with more than 14,000 active members in 599 chapters in the United States. Any student interested in developing leadership and communication skills through hands-on business-related and community service activities is eligible to be involved in the association.

  PBL president Tamara Crawford and vice president Travis Pirtle are the student brains behind the Pike renovation project. Ronda Credille, assistant professor of business administration at SBU, is helping PBL with the planning and execution of the project.

After meeting and discussing plans with Dr. David Whitlock, dean of the college of business and computer science, Brent Watkins, Pike technical director, Dr. C. Pat Taylor, SBU President and Bob Glidwell, physical plant director, it was concluded that a complete renovation of Pike was not financially possible.

"A partial renovation, however, could be completed for about $30,000 and would improve the facility a great deal," Credille said.

The Pike renovation project will not only include adding a center aisle to the auditorium, but will also create a center door, build a permanent media table, remove and replace any broken seats, add seating for the physically challenged, replace the stage curtains and repaint the ceiling.

"I think it's a good investment," senior Terra Heidle said. "It's a lot more convenient in a place that big to have a center aisle."

PBL is raising funds for the project by handing out fliers and asking for donations from faculty and donors who gave money for Mabee Chapel and Pike Auditorium's construction 25 years ago.

Construction in Pike will begin when the current semester concludes. If the needed funds are acquired in time, the project will be completed in time for Welcome Week 2004.

"We won't have to crawl all over people when we're trying to leave," freshman Lindsey Hagan said. "It will make exiting Chapel and getting to classes a whole lot easier."

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