Dylon Harrison
Staff Writer
The needs of college students are constantly growing and changing. To keep up with these needs, universities must also be able to change as needed. ISU, and specifically Public Safety, are no exception, which is why the Public Safety Building is undergoing renovations.
Construction started in October and is expected to finish within the next couple weeks. When the building is finished, the parking office and Bengal card services will be moving back to the Public Safety building and out of the PSUB. Bengal cards will continue to be available in the PSUB after the move back to the Public Safety building.
Transportation, which is not a part of Public Safety, will not be returning to the Public Safety building, which will reduce the traffic of staff and students through the building and will further simplify the process of interactions with Public Safety.
The goal of the remodel is to bring all offices and services available from Public Safety to one place, in order to create an easier experience for students.
“We are very student focused,” said director of Public Safety, Lewis Eakins.
After the remodel is finished, all aspects of Public Safety will be available in one location, rather than separate offices. Students will be able to get parking passes, Bengal cards, and pay tickets all in the same office. The remodel will make operations in the building run more smoothly for everyone involved.
“By doing the remodel, we just have a better flow,” Eakins said. “It’s more of a one stop shopping for Public Safety.”
The idea to make the different aspects of Public Safety accessible in one location came from ISU Executive Vice President, provost, and presidential finalist Laura Woodworth-Ney, in hopes of giving the student body a better experience with Public Safety when arriving at ISU.
The Public Safety building has had a rich history. When it was first built, it was a gas station, after that, it was a credit union before finally becoming the Public Safety building.
As its purposes changed, the building was occasionally added onto in order to meet the required changes. This caused a scattered feeling among the different parts of Public Safety. Because of the assortment of purposes, the building has never had a “master plan” for Public Safety, Eakins said.
There have been no major setbacks to Public Safety or ISU students and faculty caused by the construction. Some offices were temporarily moved to other buildings, but signs were put up and memos were emailed to students and faculty to make them easy to find.
“Sometimes people will come first to our building anyway,” Eakins said. “So I’m sure there has been a minor inconvenience, but that’s kind of the price for progress.”
