RMH expansion leaves room for JMU

House Editorial

Rockingham Memorial Hospital is short on space. So is JMU. Our crowded classrooms, stampedes for seats at D-hall, UREC lines and jammed parking lots prove it.

The difference? RMH opted to solve its space problems, and now it’s JMU’s turn. Following an announcement Tuesday, the hospital will relocate elsewhere in the county, having overgrown its 15 acres of offices, wards and parking lots. The space, though probably already considered for retail or offices, is up for grabs.

While no plans were reported to purchase the hospital’s sprawling campus, the university, as it should, always entertains the thought when spaces adjacent to JMU’s own 600 acres become available.

The hospital hugs the north side of campus on the corner of Mason and Cantrell Avenue, a convenient spot for new university offices and classrooms. Even more enticing are RMH’s six parking lots and two multilevel decks. Some may retch at the thought of working inside the corridors of a former hospital.

But JMU, it seems, isn’t bothered by convention. Students already attend class in the converted swimming pool of Keezell Hall, the dank auditorium of Anthony-Seeger Hall, the campus movie theater and modular trailers just down the road from a power plant.

Renovations and conversions may initially be pricey, but money to purchase academic buildings typically is allocated from the state, not student fees. Regardless, the price is small when the quality of life for students, faculty and staff improves.

The university should fight for RMH’s coveted, high-traffic location. Expanding campus shouldn’t be seen as a luxury, but as a necessity.

We need the space. A study lounge in Chandler Hall was converted into a bedroom last year due to a lack of housing. The November fire in the Financial Services building displaced staff into makeshift offices around town. Some faculty offices aren’t even in the buildings in which they teach.

JMU must compensate for its increases in students, faculty and staff. RMH’s property is a great place to start. The hospital isn’t slated to open in its new location until 2012. JMU says it’s impossible to anticipate the needs of the university that far off.

But buying the property isn’t about what we will need in eight years. Any student, faculty member or staffer could confirm we need the space now. Campus is already bursting at the seams.

In the past eight years, enrollment has surged with more than 2,000 new students. Growth in enrollment in the next eight years shouldn’t be surprising.

JMU is a natural candidate for the property. In the world of real estate, location is everything. The space is an attractive option for retail or offices, especially because the right buyer would generate tax revenue for the city. But students and university employees also spend more than $250 million in the Harrisonburg area each year. If JMU emerged as a potential buyer, the purchase would signal a serious attempt to expand, enroll more students and hire more faculty; that expansion economically benefits the city.

RMH acted to resolve its space crunch after its offices and parking lots breached capacity. It’s time for JMU to do the same.

Did we mention RMH has two parking decks?