On the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 29, it was announced that the MTU Alley Makerspace will be moving out of its current location in the MUB basement after the 2025 spring semester. The current Makerspace will continue its normal operations for the remainder of this semester.
The Alley Makerspace, or just The Makerspace, is a large workshop area in the basement of the MUB where the old bowling alley once was. It is a resource for students wanting to use power tools and other equipment on their personal or school projects. The MTU Testing Center is currently located in Rekhi Hall where students with testing accommodations can go to take exams.
Recently, the testing center has been experiencing overcrowding issues. Large exams and simultaneous finals have contributed to the need for a larger space. According to Shane Oberloier, the director of the Alley Makerspace, the decision to move the Makerspace comes from the Office of the Provost. The reason behind the move is that the MTU Testing Center, which currently resides in Rekhi Hall, is replacing the Alley Makerspace in the MUB.
An open Q&A session was hosted on Monday by Oberloier and Provost Andrew Storer. During this session, students were able to raise questions and concerns about the future of The Makerspace. During the session, Storer made it clear that you “can’t have a University without students” and that he was open to listening to all concerns and suggestions from students.
The Makerspace was chosen for its large size of 4,000 square feet. According to Storer, moving the Testing Canter to the Alley would increase its size by about 30%. An attendee asked whether or not the Makerspace could be spared by splitting the testing center into multiple small spaces, therefore increasing the total space while preserving the Makerspace. Storer insisted that is “not [the] best practice to have the testing center in different locations.”
An attendee of the QnA, Eris C, gave her perspectives on the Makerspace
“The thing I value the most about it, is that it’s a big open space where you can just work. [It] doesn’t matter what you’re working on- it’s probably somewhere in that big ole room….”
The future of The Makerspace is currently up in the air. The Provost’s office is currently looking at different areas around campus to move the workshop. Students are encouraged to provide their ideas and input, and RSOs currently involved in The Makerspace will be contacted for their perspectives on the matter.
“I would want it to stay towards the center of campus- the main academic buildings,” Eris said, “the thing I want to see most, is it being kept as one centralized space, rather than a bunch of scattered rooms….”
According to Oberloier, current considerations regarding where the space will move have to contend with the fact that most of the space on campus is currently being “spoken for in some way or another”; he has also expressed a desire for The Makerspace to be in a more “neutral space”, such as a dorm building, so that this new Makerspace won’t be displaced in the future by an expanding academic department.
Oberloier has said that this will most likely result in “some sort of rebirth of the Makerspace,” and that it is “important to acknowledge all the effort students and faculty have put into making the Alley Makerspace exist as it was.”
For more information, contact Shane Oberloier at swoberlo@mtu.edu or contact the Provost at provost@mtu.edu.
