St John’s has plans to build a new quad when it resumes control of land on St. Giles. The site, though belonging to the college, has been leased out to the university for number of years now. But in 2005, St John’s is to repossess the land. The JCR is in favour of situating a new joint JCR-MCR common room there, with a new quad and facilities for both undergrads and post-grads. However, the St. John’s bursar stressed that nothing has been agreed upon. The college is keen to provide accommodation for all of its students, within its confines, according to the bursar, but the land will “probably be used for a variety of purposes.” Some of the other suggestions so far have been to use part of it for art studios and a gallery, or to create some soundproof music rooms where students can practice. Yet as the richest college and large landowner, some have raised questions about whether St John’s money might be better spent elsewhere. In the light of the Student Union’s recent inequality report, a St John’s student asked “Do we really need another quad? Why doesn’t the SCR use its money to help the University as a whole instead?”
ARCHIVE: 4th week TT 2003
New John’s Quad
