Sierra Hubbard, Staff Writer
Kennesaw State University finalized the $9.9 million acquisition of the old BrandsMart USA property on Busbee Drive this summer to serve as a link between the two campuses of the consolidated university in 2015.
The purchase, funded by state bonds, includes 17 acres of land and the 113,000 square-foot retail building already on the property. Planned projects span from laboratory space for the Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education to a new student health center. With the launch of KSU’s new football team in the fall of 2015, this plot of land will also house the new marching band’s practice center.
One key objective was to create a link between the current Southern Polytechnic University campus and KSU’s main campus. With the final consolidation quickly approaching, the facilities here will be accessible to students on both campuses. Those who currently attend SPSU have many varying opinions on the acquisition and whether or not it will be effective in its goals.
Paul Gatens, a junior studying mechanical engineering at SPSU, believes the projects will have a positive impact. “I definitely think this will give students more recreational opportunities,” Gatens said. “It will give a much-needed boost to school morale, which I currently see as being very low.”
Rosa Garcia, a sophomore and construction management major also at SPSU, does not agree that this boost to morale will occur so easily. “Imagine feeling obliged to have ‘school spirit’ and support for a team and school that stripped away your identity,” Garcia said. “So, as far as a linkage between the schools that will help morale and such, I do not really believe it will be great in the beginning, but it does force the two schools to address the issue sooner.”
She does, however, think that the projects planned are an asset to the university. “As a prior marching band member myself, I most definitely believe that a marching band is important and should be considered,” Garcia said.
“Without a doubt, Kennesaw is going to want to have the best football team, and accommodating the marching band will give them a better chance to have the best band too, leaving no room for mediocrity in any area.”
How does this help the merger? That doesn’t seem like it was the point. It links the KSU Center with all the Sports & Rec stuff, and the stadium, but I don’t get any connection to SPSU.