The plans for an addition to USC’s health center sound fantastic — 64,500 more square feet, a fresh new look and plenty of chances for Student Health Services to expand its offerings.
They also raise a 40,000-square-foot question: What about the current building?
To say the Thomson Student Health Center, built in 1973, is outdated is putting it mildly. The paint is cracking, old overnight infirmary rooms serve as offices and officials have said they’re concerned about how the structure would do in an earthquake.
USC has said it plans to renovate the building, but when? It’s in need of work sooner rather than later.
Still, the university’s five-year facilities plan is promising.
Renovating Bates West, built in 1974, would add hundreds of beds at a time when housing on campus is tighter than ever.
And plans to retool the Carolina Coliseum give USC an opportunity to resolve one of its longest-standing needs: a new student union — or something like one.
We hope USC will make the most of the opportunity that the Coliseum presents; such an expansion is long overdue.
But as the university plans renovations and construction across campus, we hope it won’t forget about the health center it’s leaving behind.