By Kathy Blessin
While student groups and course unions complain about lack of student space at Ryerson, a small empty building at 297 Victoria St. stands unused.
“There is a lot of space on campus that is currently being overlooked as possible rooms or offices for campus clubs and groups,” said Juanita Dickson, RSU V-P Administration. Dickson as well as the rest of the RSU members are constantly being asked for space by students organizations. “There is space on campus,” said Leatrice Spevack, RSU course union and student groups coordinator.
Pete Nowak, president of the journalism course union, said the JCU has tried to get an office since November without success. “Every time we spoke with the RSU, they told us to go to campus planning, who told us to go elsewhere,” he said. “It’s been an endless circle of being brushed off.”
He’s surprised the Victoria St. building is vacant because Ryerson administration makes it sound like student groups don’t have a prayer of landing an office on campus. “We were shocked when we learned that the building is not being used. (They should) give it to us,” he said.
RSU president Mike D’Angelo said he was unaware the building was vacant. “They (Ryerson administration) don’t always tell us when space is available or else they choose not to tell us,” he said.
George Hume, director of Campus Planning and Construction, said security reasons prevent permanent occupation of the building. “Women didn’t feel especially secure (in the building),” he said.
He also said Ryerson would lose money if students moved into the building. “We found that just using it as a place for people who couldn’t find space within their own program wasn’t a safe or feasible thing to do.” Hume added that Ryerson has plans for the building, but for now it is cheaper to leave it empty and not have to pay maintenance and hydro costs.
“It will become an office building for a group,” Hume said but he didn’t specify the group or when the move will take place.
Situated between Lake Devo and the business building, 297 Victoria St. has a long history. It originally belonged to the O’Keefe Brewery until it was bought by Ryerson in 1967.
CJRT, an educational FM station that once affiliated with Ryerson, was housed in the building for years and paid rent after it became independent from the university in 1973.
D’Angelo predicts that the building will probably be empty until at least the end of the summer, but that isn’t making Nowak and his union any happier.
“Here we are busting our butts to find a place to run our course union out of, and sitting there is a whole empty building. It just doesn’t seem fair.”
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