The ‘Transformation’ Continues

Demolition of three buildings along Big Bend scheduled to begin in May

Jacob Politte MANAGING EDITOR

While the buildings are still unlocked, all offices and classrooms in the Business Administration and Communications South buildings have been fully vacated. During Spring Break, the library building will be vacated as materials are set to be moved into new spaces in the Student Center during the same week.

“The library’s move won’t occur until Spring Break,” Meramec Campus President Feleccia Moore-Davis said. “We’ll be setting up the tutoring, we’ll be setting up the library during Spring Break so that students won’t have a disturbance of service during that time.”

According to Moore-Davis, the demolitions of these buildings are scheduled to begin sometime in May, although she noted that the timetable is subject to change.

“The preparation for demolition will occur in April, and we will probably not see demolition until May,” she said. “The buildings have to be decommissioned first. We still have a lot of equipment and other things in all of those buildings that need to be decommissioned and repurposed to the degree we can repurpose them before they actually can be taken down.”

When asked what decommissioning consists of, Moore-Davis outlined, “The electricity, the water, supplies, things like that. Also, there has to be a level of abatement that goes on prior to the buildings coming down. That work will begin after the library moves [to its new location].”

These projects are a part of massive changes that are already being implemented as a part of STLCC Transformed.

The cafeteria and student center has already seen an overhaul, with new classrooms being added and rooms and areas being repurposed for other uses.

Some spaces have been walled off to create new rooms, including a massive new room that takes up a sizable portion of what used to be part of the cafeteria atrium. An additional new classroom is also now present near the Veterans Affairs office.

The Social Sciences building is also scheduled to be demolished as a part of Phase 1, but will remain standing for at least two more years so that the campus can have more available campus space.

“We kept the Social Sciences building primarily because we needed the number of classrooms,” MooreDavis said. “So we couldn’t take down these major buildings without leaving something, or we would have had portable buildings adjacent to the campus. Social Science will come down after the new buildings are erected. Subsequently, those classrooms and offices [currently housed in Social Sciences] have all been planned to be incorporated into the new buildings.”

While Moore-Davis isn’t sure of the exact nature of how demolition will be completed, she expects it to be completed in full by August.

“I’m pretty sure by the time we come back in the fall that the demolition will be complete.”

If students have any questions for Dr. Moore-Davis, she will be available to speak with them at the next “Mocha Monday” from 8:30-10:00am on Feb. 6 in the cafeteria atrium located in the Student Center.

Food Service Set To Return To STLCC Contract with American Dining Creations approved by the Board of Trustees

Jacob Politte MANAGING EDITOR

The Friday afternoon of March 13, 2020 was the last time food service operated at Meramec.

During the pandemic, the college’s food service contract with Chartwells expired, and was not renewed; upon many students’ return to campus in 2021, they found that the Campus Bookstore had moved into the old cafeteria space, where its retail operations have remained ever since.

While the bookstore has expanded their offerings to include some hot food, things in the Cafeteria are changing once more.

This past month, a new food service contract with a different vendor, American Dining Creations, was signed by the college and recently approved by the Board of Trustees.

Meramec Campus President Feleccia Moore-Davis said that she and the college as a whole expect to have “some level” of food service by April 1.

Moore-Davis said that student input, which is collected by the college in a variety of ways (through the Navigate app and at Campus Town Halls, especially) was a key factor in bringing food back to campus.

“Some students were actually invited to the presentation that [American Dining Creations] gave as well,” Moore-Davis said. “So there was student representation.”

Moore-Davis also said that the return of food service to the cafeteria won’t have a major impact on the bookstore’s on-going operations in the cafeteria space, as many items sold there will remain.

While the sale and rental of textbooks will be moving to an online framework through “Akademos” and renovations are being made adjacent to the space to make it a distribution space of sorts, many items will still remain where they are.

“I believe that the bookstore will still be able to utilize the space that is facing the cafeteria right now,” she said. “So most of that activity will move to that front space. Not into where we are creating a distribution space for them.”

This is a story that is continuing to develop. For more information, stay tuned to meramecmontage.com.

The Music Program at Meramec offers courses and ensembles for all students. Classes are available for general education credit and the Associate in Arts degree with a concentration in Music to prepare for transfer into a Bachelor of Music program.

I,II,III,IV

Meetings every Tuesday at 3 PM via Zoom or in Student Center, Room 220A

I,II,III,IV

MUS 150 Fundamentals of Music Technology

MUS 152 Audio Engineering

MUS 154 Music Recording with ProTools I

MUS 211 212 Music History I II

Interested in performing in an ensemble?

All Meramec students may participate. No audition is required! MUS131, 132 and 134 are CORE42 performance courses!

ENSEMBLES

Music 131 – Concert Choir

Music 132 – Orchestra

Music 134 – Symphonic Band

Music 138 – Jazz Improvisation

All ensembles hold a seat/part assignment hearing during the first rehearsal. Members of the Concert Choir may audition for the Chamber Singers

For more information, contact Music at Meramec Dr. Jerry Myers, Program Coordinator, gmyers34@stlcc.edu, (314) 984-7638

To get you where you need to go, PTK offers opportunities to help you develop and discover your personal, academic, and professional potential.

Contact Shannon Philpott-Sanders at ssanders147@stlcc.edu

Honors offers qualified students a variety of opportunities in and outside the classroom, including honors classes, special projects, workshops, and mentoring. New students can qualify through high school GPA, ACT score, or Accuplacer. Returning students qualify through their college GPA. Once admitted, honors students are never obligated to pursue a minimum amount of honors work each term.

PHI THETA KAPPA - XI LAMBDA CHAPTER

INTERNATIONAL

HONORS SOCIETY FOR TWO-YEAR COLLEGES

Phi Theta Kappa is an international honors society for two-year colleges. It’s mission is to recognize and encourage the academic achievement of two-year college students, as well as to provide opportunities for individual growth and development through participation in honors, leadership, service, and fellowship programs.

To be eligible to join Phi Theta Kappa - Xi Lambda, Meramec’s local chapter, students must have a GPA of at least 3.5, have taken 12 or more credit hours, and must be enrolled in at least one course currently at Meramec.

If you are interested, contact Chapter Advisor Jerry Meyers at gmyers34@stlcc.edu or 314-984-7638.

If you are interested, contact Chapter Advisor Jerry Myers at gmyers34@stlcc.edu or 314-984-7638

If you are interested, contact Chapter Advisor Professor Rich Peraud in CN 217 or go to PTK.org for more information.

Humanities

Shannon Philpott-Sanders Faculty Adviser