The effects of construction on the campus

(CHATTANOOGA mocsnews.com) It is very common to see construction on campus, espically during the beginning of a spring or fall semester but is that construction beneficial for the campus? 

The latest renovation done on campus was the conversion of Lupton Library into Lupton Hall.

It was torn down from a former library to a brand-new center filled with several different rooms dedicated to different departments in the College of Arts and Sciences and it even includes a small restaurant.

That renovation was among a big list of other changes done to the school including a renovation to the Fine Arts Center and upgrading the sound system of the Mckenzie arena.

 While those changes are nice, construction on schools can often have negative effects.

It has been shown that the renovation of Ohio’s K-12 public schools doesn’t actually improve test scores and scores can suffer a lot during construction.

Another big issue with construction on campus is that the construction can block certain paths on school, which make walking around campus harder. 

The newly created parts on campus also might not offer a lot to upper classman like senior theater major Emily Hipp who says, “It’s a new building on campus, but from a graduating senior’s perspective, I don’t think it was really necessary.” (Ganzekaufer, 2019)

Another potential issue is that construction could take much needed funding away from other parts of the school.

The funding that could have gone into bolstering existing programs that assists students with either coursework or life related troubles is instead used to create yet another Starbucks that is in the gym.

 One more troubling issue that could pop up is the fact that certain parts of the school could prioritize being bulletproof over helping the students ace their tests. 

An interesting video created by Youtuber Jacob Geller discussed the idea of how creating a school that is designed around being school shooter proof can be a bad thing by comparing it to several video games with intentionally threating levels.

Hopfully the school will consider the benefits of having another building constructed on campus over helping it’s students excel at their assignments.