The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate last Sunday approved a request from Tufts Student Resources (TSR) for a $100,000 loan to revamp The Rez.
The project is part of a larger effort to renovate and modernize the campus center.
Senators voted 24-1-1 in favor of granting the loan. The money will have to be paid back to the Senate on a monthly basis over the next four academic years.
"The Senate is committed to improving the campus center any way we can, and if improving The Rez is part of that, we're happy to help," TCU Treasurer Matt Shapanka, a senior, said.
TSR will put the majority of the loan toward bringing The Rez up to code. "That's something that we felt Tufts should really pick up. A lot of the code updates we're actually going to do are [Americans with Disabilities Act] requirements," TSR President Ali Osman, a junior, said. "We want to be up to code with what the requirements are for Somerville at this point."
The Rez renovations fit into a project spearheaded by TCU Historian Antonella Scarano to update the entire campus center.
"I've been working on the idea of renovating the campus center in small pieces since last year," Scarano, a junior, said. "It was my Senate project."
As part of this plan, the Allocations Board (ALBO) voted on Wednesday night to grant $20,560 for architectural plans to modernize the campus center. The Senate approved the expenditure last night.
Current projections indicate that the campus center work will cost roughly $200,000, not including the $100,000 set aside for The Rez. It will primarily involve minor facelifts, starting with the first floor, which stands to get new lighting, painting and upholstering.
On the second floor, senators are considering new panels for doors and small changes to the ceiling.
Their third priority is the large first floor conference room, which hosts weekly Senate meetings. Senators are thinking about removing the divider in the room and installing new furniture and a projector.
The entire project will take about 12 weeks and will be completed by next fall, according to Scarano.
"Everyone is really excited about this project," she said. "Everyone is really on board, and it's come a long way."
Representatives from TSR who attended the Senate meeting to request funding originally asked for the $100,000 to be divided between a loan and a grant.
According to the representatives, TSR employs close to 70 students and offers some of the cheapest coffee on campus. They felt the strain of paying back a loan might force The Rez to raise prices.
The Senate dismissed this request, however, and instead granted them an extended timeframe to pay back the $100,000.
"They told us they could pay it, so why would we ever give them a grant if they told us they could pay in full?" Shapanka said. "We basically told them flat-out ... that they will have to do their best not to raise prices."
