On Thursday, April 26, 2012, Workshop Architects Inc., brought their first drafts of possible Dive renovation plans to campus seeking student input.

“A few weeks ago, they came to Gustavus and ran through several brainstorming activities with the Dive committee and several other students with interest in the project. Last Thursday, they were back with three different conceptual designs for the Dive,” Junior David Buckley, a member of the Dive committee, said.

The blueprints the architects brought to campus were based on meetings that involved the Dive committee, which is an open group of students, faculty and the members of other organizations such as Campus Activities Board, Proclaim,

Student Senate and Big Partner Little Partner.

The open forum took place on Thursday 4:00  to 7:30 p.m. in the Dive.

“The session was so fun. There were about seventy students off and on,” Senior and Student Senate Co-President Jen Fox, also a member of the Dive committee, said.

Students could offer their input on the three proposed designs at the meeting.

Now that the architects have heard the input of the student body, they will go back to work and present the final design some time before graduation.

“In the end, there was strong consensus for

how the refined concept should be further

developed. Also, students began the process of defining what the character of the space should be—what it should feel like.  The process used words, pictures, colors and textures to create a collage that we call a ‘Character Map.’ Our next step is to develop a refined design concept, budget and timeline,” Jan Van Den Kiebloom, one of the architects working on the project, said.

The two main forces behind the Dive project have been Fox and fellow Senior and Student Senate Co-President Nick Prince. As both are graduating this year, having younger students such as First-year Joe Thayer and Buckley involved in the project was vital.

“I intend to see the project through,” Thayer said.

After the architects present their completed design, budget discussions and construction planning will begin. Thayer hopes the project will be done by next spring, but it is contingent upon many factors, not the least of which is deciding on a budget. At this point, it is expected to cost between 1.5 million dollars and 4 million dollars.

“Depending on the financing and budget, it will [possibly] be a tiered system, a major overhaul followed by add-ons. If the administration can agree on a renovation time this summer, the majority of the construction would be completed by spring, and renovations could be added as money and time allow,” Thayer said.