SIUE's East St. Louis center develops plans for a new facility

SIUE's East St. Louis Center will be developing plans for a complete replacement of its existing facility that will better house the Center's programs and fulfill staff needs.

The former 1920s Broadview Hotel has seen years of slow deterioration. Gloria Atkins, SIU assistant vice chancellor for administration at Edwardsville, said past efforts to make the building suitable for the staff and the Center's programs have become too expensive.

"We have invested quite a bit of money into renovating the facility," Atkins said. "Within the next few years we estimate that if we remain in that facility we will have to do repairs that probably will total close to $5 million."

In order to upgrade the building to meet the Center's needs, total costs are estimated at more than $11.2 million. Willie Epps, director of SIUE East St. Louis Center, said a new facility for the programs run from the center would have many benefits.

"A new facility being built in East St. Louis would demonstrate a total commitment toward the improvement of quality of life and enhance the system at SIU," Epps said. "It would also allow us to custom design a facility closely correlated with the programs we have and operate them in a much more cost effective way."

The SIU Center works with people who have not yet enrolled in a post-secondary education and is also home of the Katherine Dunham Center of the Performing Arts. School officials said housing computer labs, testing facilities, science labs and art studios are but a few of the reasons the East St. Louis Center will need better facilities for its programs in the coming future.

SIU has recently been granted $400,000 in state appropriations that will be used to help solve the problem. Atkins said the money will be used to hire an architectural firm to lay out the plans for a new building to replace the existing center.

"We are very pleased that we got the $400,000," Atkins said. "It will go a long way towards accomplishing our goals."

The Center's goals are to obtain plans and specifications for the new building. Once the actual cost of the new facility is known, requests to the state will be refined.

"As of now we are still submitting the old dollar amount estimated for renovations," Epps said. "However, our tentative plans are that we will acquire another parcel of land very close to where the facility is now located."

Epps said he is looking forward to planning for a new facility.

"With a new facility, it gives us a chance to look at where we've been and where we want to go for the future," Epps said.