Plans to construct a new engineering building north of Beyer Hall have sparked a difference of opinion between some students and university officials.

The building — which will replace Engineering Hall, the Engineering Research Institute and Engineering Annex — will be constructed in two parts, said Dean Morton, university architect. Half of the building will be located north of Black Engineering while the other will be west of Bissell Road, where popular volleyball and tennis courts are located. The structures may eventually be connected by a skywalk.

The area east of the Student-Athletic Recreation Facility was suggested as a possible alternative location for the volleyball and tennis courts. However, students living in Friley and Helser Halls, next door to the facilities, say that would be an inconvenience for them.

Megan VanFossen, intramural chair for Murphy House in Friley, said, “The courts add a lot to the Friley area. Places like the Depot service kids who check out equipment specifically for use at the courts.”

VanFossen said the courts provide a way to bring people together.

“If they were moved to the Rec Center, everything would be centralized there and it would be inconvenient for students in Friley.”

Other alternatives have been suggested.

“We could also put [the courts] in Clyde Williams Field, south of State Gym, or in the intramural fields,” said Larry Cooney, director of Recreation Services. “But we would lose valuable green space. Other groups who use those spaces would lose their facilities.”

Cooney said relocation of the courts is part of the budget plan for the new building, but plans have not yet been finalized.

“We are concerned about the students and their needs,” Cooney said. “Right now, we have an excellent setup and we would like to protect our fields and courts, but academic buildings have priority,” he said. “Prior to the 1960s, the area from Beyer to Pammel Drive was all open field and look at it now.”

The ISU campus has undergone many changes since that time, and according to Morton, progress is the name of the game.

“This building is the first expansion of engineering space on the ISU campus since Black [Engineering Hall],” he said. “And in reality, Black was built to replace other engineering buildings.”

Instead of building a new facility, some students believe the university should just replace older buildings, such as the Engineering Research Institute. But Morton said that would be impractical.

“The older buildings have smaller spaces and are hard to remodel,” he said. “There is seldom any savings in remodeling an old building for new uses and sometimes it takes more money. Those buildings have reached the end of their lives.”

Morton said the new engineering building will be home to such research programs as the Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics. Classrooms will be filled with the latest in high-tech teaching equipment.

Some rooms will be used to broadcast programs to other buildings, states and even other countries, Morton said.

The new building is being funded at the state and federal level and by private donations. Morton said construction should begin sometime soon after Jan. 31, 1996.