Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Burnaby campus could get a new 100,000-square-foot student union building and a 2,500-seat outdoor stadium if undergraduate students approve the proposal in a March 20-22 referendum.
To pay for the $65 million project, students would be charged a fee each semester. The fee would start at $10 in January 2014 for full-time students. The fee would increase annually to $20 per semester in 2015 and $30 per semester in 2016.
Exactly how much the semesterly fee would eventually go up to is yet to be determined, but it could reach as high as $90, according to a website devoted to the project (www.buildsfu.ca).
The new structure would provide space for SFU’s many teams, clubs and groups as well as provide social space for current students, faculty, staff and Burnaby Mountain residents.
Proponents of the project say that the new structure would also boost SFU’s profile in the community.
The main political obstacle in getting current undergraduate students to support the project is that it will take five years to build. That means that the lion’s share of the students who vote in March will have graduated by the time the building is completed.
@GlenKorstrom
