With the groundbreaking of the new campus center only a season away, questions remain about the fate of C Street. Kenan Bresnan, mayor of Indianola, visited an SGA meeting to address some of those issues on Wednesday, Sept. 22.

“C Street’s been something I’ve been interested in for quite a number of years,” Bresnan said. “As you know, it’s a street that goes right through the heart of the campus and that’s where (I’d) like to focus on. To me, the campus has always been divided by this street.”

Bresnan discussed the marketing value in closing C Street by naming colleges in the past who have closed city streets to unite a campus and how beautiful those campuses look now.

Several students have concerns about the removal of C Street. Some of those concerns include less parking space, separating the campus from the community and the costs of removing the street.

“I think if we were to take C Street away it would cause more congestion and confusion with the traffic around campus, not to mention the parking issues,” senior Meagan Gamble said. “I also think that money could be spent on other things instead of doing something that would be purely aesthetic.”

Others believe that the removal of C Street will make the campus safer because students would no longer have to cross a busy street to walk to classes.

“Instead of having to walk across a busy street it will hopefully be closed off,” Macy Koch, senior and student body president, said.

Bresnan also discussed the Indianola City Council’s current expenses such as the water damage received this summer and how the expenses play into making decisions about closing C Street. 

“Water has been flooding this city, we have had more rain this summer than ever before,” Bresnan said.

To view previous coverage of the possible closing of C Street and to learn how Simpson and the city of Indianola are working together visit www.thesimpsonian.com