In 2007, UNM received $12.5 million from an institutional bond for classroom modernizations, but students are petitioning to use the money for Johnson Center.
ASUNM President Ashley Fate said the Student Housing and Recreation Committee is exploring options for updating the center, a plan President David Schmidly supports.
"We're not giving students solutions to their recreational need here on campus, and that's one of the reasons we're taking a look at either renovating or building a new facility," she said. "What we're doing right now is looking at other institutions and looking at what we think a facility at UNM needs to look like and getting a state-of-the-art facility that students can be proud of."
Fate said she has visited several universities across the country to find the services and functions that would best suit UNM students.
"We're dreaming big," she said. "We're hoping to get an indoor track and an indoor rock wall."
Fate said UNM's Mountaineering Club is a growing program and would greatly benefit from the rock wall.
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"An indoor track would make sense for campus," she said. "At night, people who don't want to run outside can run indoors, and when the weather gets bad, people can run indoors."
Fate said Johnson Center is currently too crowded and inaccessible to students when they need it.
Kim Kloeppel, vice president of Student Affairs, said students have been giving input on what they want out of a renovated
Johnson Center.
"We did a study in the committee, and we're looking at all the different services that recreation services offer," she said. "We also did a survey earlier this year asking students what they were wanting."
Fate said she hopes that in the near future, solid options will be available for students to consider and give feedback on.
Roger Wrolstad, manager of Johnson Center, said UNM is looking into several options for Johnson Center but that the project is still developing.
Though ASUNM is adamant about getting started on this project, Kloeppel said they are still trying to determine where the money will come from.
"It's a matter of budget and what we can afford," Kloeppel said.
