Residents of University Family Housing expressed frustration at a town meeting Thursday that the new community center they were promised by the university is still on hold.

About 30 people gathered in the laundry facility, standing or leaning against washing machines and dryers. University Family Council Mayor Brenda Schmalzried said there is no other large meeting space available since the former community center was turned into a child care center 18 months ago.

The former community center located at 100 University Village was scheduled to be renovated before an agreement with the university was made. The agreement was 100 University Village would be renovated to make room for a new child care facility and University Family Housing would receive $500,000 to build a new community center.

The new community center was scheduled to open the same time as the new child care facility, but 18 months later, approval for the new community center has not come through.

The meeting was held to let residents voice concerns to administration. Thomas Hill, vice president for student affairs, attended the meeting. Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance, was scheduled to attend, but was unable to because of a funeral.

“The university is not going to abandon you,” Hill said. “It’s my position that we need to build the community center. The question is when.”

He said the project has been delayed for financial reasons. Both the university and the Department of Residence have cut budgets and a lack of enrollment and occupancy have perpetuated the funding problems.

“I know it looks like you’ve been had, like you’ve been screwed, but that’s not the case,” Hill said. “This was not a plan. This is not a bait-and-switch.”

“We’re dealing with a lot of deferred maintenance,” he said.

Hill said due to budget constraints the university has stepped back and prioritized.

“I believe we made a commitment to you and we need to follow through with this,” Hill said. “The problem is I can’t tell you when.”

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy has the final say on the project, he said.

“The money is there but we don’t have all the money to do all the things we want to do,” Hill said.

Residents said the lack of facilities within University Family Housing has caused people to either move away or to reconsider moving in altogether. Natalie Steffen, chairwoman of the University Family Housing Council, said she has only heard of people leaving University Family Housing for negative reasons such as a lack of recreational facilities and community meeting space.

“[Children living in University Family Housing] have nothing to do and nowhere to do it,” Steffen said. “People don’t want to come into a laundromat and have a potluck.

“People are leaving because they are losing trust in the university to get done the things we need done.”

Schmalzried said the former community center had diverse facilities to serve the residents of University Family Housing. Many services have been canceled since the new community center has not been built. Among these services was a 24-hour computer lab.

“Where is there now on campus that there’s a computer lab open 24 hours a day?” she asked.

Other facilities in the old community center included a planned recreation room and play group room, and a meeting room with a kitchen.

“It was all [Americans with Disability Act] accessible — this is not,” Schmalzried said, indicating the former apartment building that now houses temporary office space.

Some people expressed concern that Madden did not attend the meeting.

Schmalzried said she began e-mailing Madden about once a week in early October and received no response from his office until Thursday.

Julie Pulczinski, GSB representative for University Family Housing, said she feels frustrated because the university administration is not giving residents any new information during meetings.

“We knew coming into this that Hill was on our side,” she said. “[But] we’re not getting any answers we don’t already know.”