DANTE LASTING
Sports Editor
At the end of January, the university unveiled a new eSports lounge in Shultz Hall. This lounge is home to a lot of new hardware, including an Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, two TV screens and 13 gaming computers.
But with all the talk about program cuts because of Fredonia’s budget problem, how did this state of the art eSports lounge get paid for?
The eSports lounge is a big hit with gamers and a welcoming new home for the eSports club on campus. While the club will meet there, the fully furnished lounge is open to all students. The club will be hosting events throughout the entire semester. The university is also becoming one of the first to offer a two-credit course on eSports.
[RELATED (from fredonia.edu): New eSports Lounge already a winner with Fredonia gamers]
While the idea of an eSports lounge on campus has been tossed around for a while, the planning and development of the space only took about three months. This project could not have been completed at the pace that it did without the help of university facility services, electricians, carpenters and eSports club Advisor Mark Mackey. Mackey is the residential technology coordinator for the university and pushed for the lounge to get finished in a quick and timely manner.
So with all the financial struggles that the university has faced recently, how did this new project get paid for?
According to Mackey, they got lucky with getting the funds for the lounge.
“In this year’s budget, we had planned to add a printing station in all the residence halls but we ended up with some end-of-year funds last year so that paid for the printing stations,” Mackey explained. “We then used the $20,000 we had in this year’s budget to pay for the [eSports] lounge.”
It seems that they were able to keep all the costs around the given budget. For all the computers, consoles and TVs, Mackey said that it cost around $17,000. On top of that, they still had to pay for the lounge to be renovated and they had to buy furniture to put in it. Not a cheap project at all, but the lounge looks very clean, inviting and a good place to hang out.
For more information about the eSports club, visit the eSports lounge located in Shultz Hall.
There is an eSports competition hosted by Campus Life and the eSports club in the Williams Center MPR. It is Feb. 27 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. At this event, there will be a Mario Kart tournament where you can race against President Hefner and Dr. Howard. In addition, there will be a few other gaming consoles around the MPR to play a variety of games. There will also be a nacho bar to enjoy while you play.
For additional details, visit the Campus Life website.