The Saint Mary's College Student Government Association (SGA) decided to improve the Le Mans Hall basement as their Capital Fund Project at its meeting Wednesday.
Student body president Rachael Chesley SGA has over $40,000 in the Capital Fund, and plans to remodel and redecorate the basement in Le Mans Hall, making it a space for students to be able to relax.
"There's no place for students just to hang out, so I think that's really what we're trying to do," Morgan Gay, Student Diversity Board president said. "If you look at other colleges, if you look at Notre Dame, if you look at colleges like us, they have these great places for students to hang out, so what I'm really looking for is something amazing."
Throughout the meeting, SGA debated about the location for this space and discussed the pros and cons of using the basement of Dalloways versus the basement of Le Mans Hall.
After debate, members voted to utilize the Le Mans Hall basement to provide something tangible for the students this academic year.
With about 5,000 square feet to work with in the basement, SGA discussed what to include in the new social space for students.
"What kind of place do we want to have, maybe not necessarily exactly what we want to have down there, but what is the purpose of doing this Le Mans Hall basement?" Chesley said.
Members suggested including game systems, music and providing new furniture, as well as repainting and upgrading the look of the basement.
"So we have all these goals, the way we want it to look, what type of atmosphere we want to engage in there … but we have to give them some sort of number," Chesley said.
SGA explored the budget for this project, and decided that the maximum tentative budget for the project would be $38,000.
"This project, I'm super excited about, I think we should shoot for the sky, but I also don't know if we should put all our eggs in one basket," Chesley said. "We can always add more to the budget for this project by coming together voting on it."
