Different Sights on Campus

Over three years have passed and my time at MBU is coming to a close. As the years positively progress, so do the renovations.

Photo by Ryan Rerich

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Arriving on MBU’s campus mid-August 2012, my eyes witnessed a scene with some distinct differences from what I am seeing these days.

Just making the stroll down the side of Dink Marlor or through the middle of campus, the four-year student starting prior to 2013 at MBU will notice significant changes.    

The Spartan Row Pods are now visible and house 106-bed complexes in three three-story buildings with a living area on each floor in each building.

The “pods” are where I called home my sophomore year during the school year, making an upgrade from the dorms my freshman year.

Living in the pods the first year of their existence will be memorable and it will be very interesting to see how the housing evolves in the next few years.

The next noticeable difference would be the large addition in the MBU cafeteria.

Prior to 2014, the cafeteria did not have a deli, pizza or brio section inside, but only had the brio in the corner outside the food lines that served a different dish each day of the week for lunch only, along with only one line of hot-and-ready meals for students for the other three meals.

Over the past three and a half years I have always had the option to order a burger for the second and third meal of the day and an omelet for breakfast, but this year the process seems much easier than in the past, with many more options.

The right wing of the café was also expanded to accommodate more seating for students and faculty to eat or just hang out throughout the day.

The third enormous change was construction of the MBU Spartan Bookstore and its opening in March 2013.

The new bookstore is twice the size of the old bookstore, which was located where the new addition to the cafeteria is now standing, on the ground level of the Field Building.

Additional items are available to the student at the new bookstore, such as Nike and Champion apparel items, along with more space to roam and pick from a wide variety of food and drink.

The bookstore also includes a place for students to sit and read, or simply do homework with a solid Wi-Fi connection.

The fourth, final and most recent addition is the MBU Football Practice Facility.

Located adjacent to the Christian Brothers College High School practice field and west of the MBU campus, the MBU field consists of artificial turf and a large field house full of coaches’ offices and locker rooms.

The facility is top-of-the-line, resembling those of upper-level NCAA schools.

The Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex was also brand new when I hit campus in 2012, and its 1,000-square-foot gymnasium where the Spartans play is a very nice touch.

Looking back over three years ago, it is incredible to see how far MBU has come.

One can no longer see the baseball field from the apartments on the hill. All they can see is the pods.

There are no longer woods to the east of CBC’s baseball field. There now stands a massive field house reading “MBU Spartans.”

To the west of the Perk now stands the new bookstore. New buildings abound.

The new buildings give MBU an entirely new feel. What will the campus feel and look like in 10 years when a student roams the campus is 2025?