The Board of Trustees is having its second meeting of the semester Thursday at IU-Kokomo to discuss renovation projects, new faculty members and budgetary modeling.
The board, which is the final legal authority at IU, meets over a two-day period to make decisions on issues they raise themselves, as well as run through the obligatory proceedings.
Lemon said there are several agenda items assigned from a legal standpoint. Despite these mandatory inner operations and functions, Lemon said one of the most important topics of the meeting will be the current plans for new and updated facilities on campus.
Plans to renovate Swain Hall, build an amphitheater and create a Marching Hundred practice hall were approved by the board in previous meetings, said IU spokesperson Mark Land.
Land said the projects are coming back to the board for specific design ideas.
“Facilities renovations and construction decisions are largely driven by the campus master plan, which provides a vision for how the physical spaces on campus will evolve over time,” Land said.
The Marching Hundred practice hall would provide IU’s band a practice space to rehearse as a large group and in smaller groups. The hall will be near the campus’s athletic venues, so transportation to and from games will improve significantly, Land said.
Swain Hall, which consists of a west and east side, has existed for 100 years and has not seen any major renovations since the building became a part of campus.
“This project will modernize both buildings to make them more compatible with the academic needs of today’s students, update major building systems and redesign the front entrance, facing south, to make it more inviting and more in character with other buildings in that part of campus,” Land said.
Land said the amphitheater is a completely new construction, designed to create an outdoor performance space in the heart of the arts corridor on campus. Land said the space will be used for outdoor performances and also serve as a place for social gatherings.
“These new facilities are one of the focal points of the discussion the Board of Trustees will have,” Lemon said. “Bloomington’s new constructions are critical to what direction the campus will go in.”
