The Missouri Students Association plans to spend $6,000 of its contingency and reserve fund to pay for the expansion of the STRIPES house headquarters. STRIPES serves as MU’s safe-ride program Thursdays through Saturdays.
“STRIPES has been trying to get an expansion for a long time now because they have been expanding rapidly and are crunched for space,” MSA President Eric Woods said.
STRIPES Director Jeri Pautler said they love their current location but they need more room.
“It’s secluded, and there’s plenty of parking, but we need more space,” Pautler said.
The additions to the house will include a new phone room, where calls are answered, and a large storage closet.
The STRIPES house is located in a warehouse owned by Student Auxiliaries, MSA Secretary of Auxiliaries Matt Sheppard said. STRIPES pays rent for the space.
“We’re just going to have minor construction so we can have a much better, expanded space,” Sheppard said.
The process to expand STRIPES started last semester, Sheppard said. STRIPES has 10 cars, which requires at least 26 volunteers in the house during operating hours.
A plan was drawn up to begin the renovations, and it was decided MSA would pay for it in full, Woods said.
“Matt and Emily are in process of making a contingency and reserve request,” Woods said. “After the proposal is done, it will go through the Operations Committee.”
MSA Senate will discuss this act at its next meeting Feb. 23, Pautler said.
MSA considered two plans when they began talking about a STRIPES expansion. The first was to do the construction through campus facilities and have it finished by spring break. The other was to go through Jeffrey Zeilenga, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.
Going through Zeilenga’s department would cost less but would not be completed until next semester, Woods said.
“We decided this needed the expansion sooner rather than later, so we’re going to go through campus facilities,” Woods said.
Pautler said they looked over the original blueprints of the house, and they are planning on knocking down some of the walls to make more space.
“Right now our phone area is a cubicle,” Pautler said. “We’re going to put up a glass wall so people in the phone room can see what’s going on, but it will be a sound barrier.”
Sheppard said with more room, they would be able to have more volunteers who can give more rides.
Pautler said STRIPES is thankful for the help and support MSA has given them.
“MSA is awesome,” Pautler said. “We love them. I can’t say how appreciative we are of them.”