This post was updated April 10 at 7:35 p.m.
Finding open gym equipment to use or a place to study often requires a great deal of effort when you’re supposed to share with more than 30,000 of your peers.
But recent construction projects on campus have exacerbated the spacing difficulties students face, which lead some to even camp out during midterms and finals seasons to prevent their seats from being taken.
Both Powell Library and the John Wooden Center have been undergoing renovations to resist earthquakes for what seems like forever, only worsening the crowding.
“I remember having to change my path to go to class because of all the construction that was blocking off certain parts of campus,” said second-year English student Emily Simonyan.
Students gathering to study together, fueled by energy drinks and rooted in their seats with earbuds in, can be a form of bonding among us undergraduates.
Nonetheless, UCLA should always be a welcoming environment, and it is the university’s job to ensure student study spots remain accessible, clean and open. Students shouldn’t have to worry about finding a spot to study on top of worrying about exams.
“It’s really hard to find a place to study,” Simonyan said. “It takes me longer to find a place to sit down and study than actual studying.”
With the Powell reading room reopening in fall 2024, students finally regained access to more study spaces just in time for finals week.
Brandon Melamed, a third-year psychology student, said he has been enjoying the Powell reading room and hopes to go more often since its reopening.
The university is currently projecting that all construction will conclude soon.
“Powell Library construction is in its final stages, and we look forward to it being completed in the coming months,” Allison Benedetti, the associate university librarian for teaching, learning and research, said in an emailed statement. “Interior work has already been completed, although stairwell protection remains in place while scaffolding remains on the roof.”
With some of us never experiencing Dickson Plaza without construction during our time here at UCLA, Powell’s full reopening is thrilling.
Nonetheless, I am concerned that the construction will not actually conclude before finals week of spring quarter. The statement didn’t offer a clear date as to when the construction will be complete, and a few months could drag into fall quarter.
Projects do take considerable time and effort, especially given UCLA’s conditions.
“UCLA’s campus is very dense and the ability to expand UCLA Library facilities is constrained by our physical footprint,” Benedetti said in a written statement. “Renovation of existing buildings can be complicated and costly, and strategies to secure funding for these types of projects are developed by senior leadership across the university.”
In a similar vein, recreation centers like Wooden are limited in serving a large student population.
“I would make Wooden bigger because it’s so crowded there, and I would want there to be more space, because it can be really hard to find benches, machines and weights,” Melamed said.
Luckily, expansions are finally being made to meet the needs of students – and what we pay for in our tuition – at various libraries and recreation centers in the near future.
According to an emailed statement from Erinn McMahan, UCLA Recreation’s executive director, the university has actively responded to the growth in size of the student population by building new housing, the Kinross Recreation Center, the Bruin Fitness Center and making improvements at Wooden.
Specific improvements to Wooden include a renovation of the front lobby to create new activity areas along with expansions to the main weight room and circuit training room. These are projected to be completed by 2027, with the first phase underway.
New weight training stations will be built at Drake Stadium to address growing student demand for exercise equipment while construction continues at Wooden, McMahan said in the emailed statement.
Other projects are also on the horizon, including a collaboration hub at the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, which will accommodate about 80 students and include a lounge, presentation space, collaboration areas and study rooms, Benedetti said in the emailed statement.
The Sunset Recreation Center is also being renovated for seismic improvements. The former main building of the complex was demolished this January and a new building, featuring several multipurpose rooms and a teaching kitchen will be built to replace it, McMahan added in the emailed statement.
These expansions are a much needed step to making UCLA more accessible for all students. By alleviating overcrowding, the university finally seems to be taking steps in the right direction to ensure that Bruins can thrive in the UCLA community.
Whether these actions can be achieved in a timely and efficient manner, without causing more disruption to student life, is unknown. The university should be more transparent about the timeline and be more discreet about finishing these projects.
Students yearn for this space and should be able to trust the university’s plans for multipurpose area improvement and see the followthrough.
“I’m really eager for the construction to be over so I can enjoy the open air – not have to walk in that tight restricted area,” Simonyan said.
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