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Traditions closes; Marcus Center classes will move to Metroplex
WSU eyes welcome center
By Joe Kleinsasser
The future of the building that houses the Marcus Center is yet to be determined. One thing is certain: It won’t stay the same.
For one thing, Traditions Café, which was located in the restaurant side of building since summer 1997, closed Dec. 31. For another thing, the section that housed Marcus Center activities and conferences will close Aug. 1. The impending closing has implications for several university entities.
Charlotte Howard, director of university conferences and non-credit programs, said the Marcus Center building will continue as a conference and meeting facility until Aug. 1. Groups meeting until then can have meals catered into the restaurant area.
“If you have an event scheduled at the Marcus Center, you will be taken care of,” said Howard. “It will be business as usual. Groups who normally use the Marcus Center need to contact the Metropolitan Complex staff immediately to make reservations for events scheduled after Aug. 1.
The demand is already great by university and community groups.”
Call 978-6465 to make reservations. Howard emphasizes making requests as soon as possible because space is at a premium.
The Hughes Metropolitan Complex houses the Wichita Radio Reading Service, Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, Welsbacher Theater, Small Business Development Center, and the offices of the Division of Conferences and Non-Credit Programs.
Howard said the non-credit classes commonly known as the Marcus Center classes will be offered at the complex.
The eventual closing of the Marcus Center has the Center for Management Development searching for a new home. Susan Cherches, CMD director, said CMD seminars will continue at the Marcus Center through at least June.
Concerning the future of CMD, Cherches said, “We are looking at every option available for our seminars later this summer.”
She said the temporary home will likely be off campus. She is looking for a location with similar amenities as the Marcus Center — a nice facility with food service.
"My concern is finding a long-term solution,” said Cherches. “We can get by in the short term. The challenge is determining what will happen in the future.”
“The university is considering the creation of a welcome center at the site where Traditions and the Marcus Center for Continuing Education are now located,” said Elizabeth King, vice president for university advancement. The Student Loan Funds Inc., a private entity that is part of the Board of Trustees, owns the building and site. King oversees the Board of Trustees.
"As WSU’s needs and priorities are changing, we agreed that it was in the best interests of Traditions and the university to discontinue the dining service.”
President Don Beggs has appointed Ron Kopita, vice president for student affairs, to chair the welcome center planning committee.
Kopita said a welcome center would “serve as a focal point of the university and could be used for many public/private functions hosted by various members of the university community. Certainly, this facility would be used to welcome prospective students.”
It appears that razing the facility is preferred over renovation. “It might make more sense to start over and build smaller,” said King.
King pointed out that presently it’s inconvenient for students to come to campus and get information due to limited parking and space in Jardine Hall.
In addition to Kopita, the welcome center planning committee includes King; faculty member Ron Matson who has assisted the admissions office; Brad Beets, executive director of the Alumni Association; Sheryl Wohlford, president-elect of the Alumni Association; Christine Schneikart-Luebbe, dean of enrollment services; John Gist, director of facilities planning; Martha Shawver, dean of undergraduate studies; and Adam Pankratz, member of the Student Ambassador Society.
"We’re undertaking an ambitious project with a limited time frame,” said Kopita. “We want to get as much information in the president’s hands as quickly as we can. We have a committee who will help us work through what the function of the welcome center can and should be.”
Kopita said the goal is to present an occupancy plan and architectural renderings to Beggs by the end of the spring semester.
Private funds would be sought to build a welcome center. The Board of Trustees would own the new facility.
Those interested in providing input for the committee’s consideration should contact Kopita, 978-3021 or kopita@twsu.edu
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