With the new construction of the residence halls, the university will need to meet the heavy demands of bored traditional students on campus.

In my opinion, the most important building on campus besides the Rhatigan Student Center is the Heskett Center, home to Campus Recreation.

Eric Maki, director of Campus Recreation at Wichita State, would like improvements made to help students have an out-of-classroom education and recognize their need for a healthy lifestyle.

When the RSC and residence hall are finished, other buildings on campus will look out-of-place and uninviting. I think the next major project should be the Heskett Center because of the number of students who use it daily.

A recreational center is what creates the atmosphere for the university outside of academia. As of now, the Heskett is foreboding from the outside. The foyer atmosphere is dry and depressing. The whole building is one big box with shut doors and long hallways.

Maki would like the outside brick replaced with glass walls so students can see activities inside and want to participate.

The interior walls need to come down and the reception desk should come out of its corner so when people enter they don’t just see an empty staircase and foyer, Maki said.

The weight room and the cardio room should expand and doors should come off their hinges. Doors are not needed in a recreational facility where encouragement from the community is priority.

One cause of the “dungeon feel” is because there is no natural light. Adding glass walls and ceilings would make the building feel bigger and more inviting.

The Heskett Center should be for recreation and socializing. New healthy snacks will be provided, and hopefully students will take advantage of the huge foyer with comfy couches nobody currently uses.

To meet industry standards and the new wave of traditional students, the Heskett needs to be the focus of change on campus in the next five years.