The University hired Holzman Moss Architecture, that took the first steps toward a new student center yesterday after finishing a two-day intensive analysis of the campus. The analysis included forums with groups that are interested in the development of the new building and tours of the main buildings being considered for renovation – the Talley Student Center, the NCSU Bookstore and Price Hall.

The firm sent a planning team to conduct forums with select campus groups and gather information and opinions regarding the current student center and student life on campus. Over the next six months the team will continue to collect student and staff opinions, according to Brad Lukanic, architect and member of the planning team. At the end of the six-month study, the team will present different ideas to improve not only the student center but any other related issues they find on campus.

“We’ll be looking at the institution both historically and in the future to see how the student center can better serve student life,” Lukanic said in the team’s meeting with Student Body President Will Quick.

The planning team met with both the student body president and the Student Center Board of Directors Tuesday night to discuss hopes for the new building. Both discussions brought forth several common issues including the lack of space in Talley for both academic and extracurricular activities, its “uninviting” look and its lack of functionality for today’s students.

“Talley’s not a destination,” said Meghan Witzke, junior in graphic design and member of the board of directors. “You’re either passing through it or in it for a club meeting,” she said.

Although the majority of the meetings focused on Talley, the scope of Holzman Moss’ study will involve aspects of student life on the entire campus including Centennial campus, Witherspoon Student Center and the Brickyard, according to Douglas Moss, architect and partner of Holzman Moss Architecture.

“At the end of the six months, we will offer alternatives, moderate additions and bigger suggestions – some so big you couldn’t even imagine them on campus,” Moss said. “We’re thinking big scale and long term.”

In Quick’s meeting with the Holzman Moss team, Moss emphasized that while the full scope and size of the project is still far from being decided, it will take considerable time and money to finish. Quick, citing the Carmichael Gymnasium expansion as an example, said that a fee increase is an inevitable result of new projects on campus, but that it is also a necessity that most students will agree with.

“Initial support for [a new student center] will be pretty high, but a year or two after is when support can be tough to get,” Quick said. “You have to pay to get good things.”

The planning group will return every month through the duration of its study to conduct similar forums with various groups like the Interfraternity Council and the Union Activities Board that represent a large part of the student and staff population. Moss said the team also plans to involve the entire student body in future meetings and is currently working on ways to do so. The planning team’s next campus visits will be Feb. 12 and 13.