By MEGAN SMITH

Staff Writer

Plans for a new center to house the IDEA Place are in the works. Now just part of the wish list for the IDEA Place, the building would be a "one-stop-shop" that would house all four components of the IDEA Place under one roof, Glenn Beer, director of the Science and Technology Education Center, said.

The proposed building plans would be 33,000 square feet and combine the IDEA Place, NASA Research Center, Planetarium and SciTECH under one roof.

Beer said right now the problem is they are tripping over themselves for space.

"General attendance is going up every year," Beer said. "Attendance this year for the IDEA Place was 15,000, and you can basically double that for the Planetarium."

William Willoughby, an assistant professor of architecture and coordinator of the Community Design Assistance Center, said in the fall quarter Beer came to him and asked if there were any students who would be interested in designing a model for the building.

Five students in the winter and spring quarters came up with the concept and designed the layout.

"The students learned a lot from this," Willoughby said. "They had the opportunity to experience working with a client, the importance of presentation and basic architecture skills."

The students who designed the plans for the new facility were Jason Harvey, Brent Knox, Chase Paul and Silvia Segura, all senior architecture majors, and Allan Williams, a junior architecture major.

"I think the design turned out amazing," Segura said. "We had some problems initially, but I am very happy I got to work on a project like this that gives back to the university."

Tech President Dr. Dan Reneau said the new building would "fit like a glove with Tech's mission."

"The new building would give uniqueness to the IDEA Place and would be a public service where there is a need," Reneau said.

Beer said he feels the new facility would help the center in its goals.

"We can do all of this without deviating from our mission to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and researchers," Beer said.

Beer said his timeline is three years, but he does not know how realistic that is.

"It doesn't matter how you look at it," he said. "It fills a need in the university and supports the mission of the university and the college. This is one of those rare occasions when it really is a true win-win situation."