Update from Servel House committee

The committee assigned to determine if the Idaho State University president needs a new home has some updates about the work it’s been doing. The committee is comprised of 17 alumni, community leaders, students, faculty and staff members.

Committee members have toured the Servel House and are still gathering information. The basic question is not only if the house meets the needs of what the president is responsible for, but if it’s really cost-effective.

The university president is required to host functions at the Servel House, all to promote the university. The university president also has to furnish the living quarters, but the common and public portion is furnished at no expense to the president.

One of the issues the committee has run into is maintenance on the house is grouped together under a general category of university maintenance, so it’s difficult to get an exact idea of what maintenance costs.

So far the committee has discussed the rich history of the home at the university and in Pocatello, but committee members have discussed some of the problems they’ve seen. Those problems include safety concerns, space and parking limitations, accessibility concerns and cost of needed renovations, though no specifics have been provided.

The committee has requested an external market value and has consulted an architect to design reconstruction plans and a cost estimate for that work.

At the end of this evaluation process, the committee will give its recommendation to the university for consideration. Out of several options, they can also recommend to go with the university’s original plan to purchase a new home.

The home the university proposed is a 3,600-square-foot home about six miles from the university campus. That home on Wild Horse Ridge also has a 2,600-square-foot indoor sports court.

The committee is open to suggestions and comments from the public. You can email the committee atservelcomm@isu.edu.

Members of the committee are: Dirk Driscoll, Shelbie Harris, Kim Hirning, Valerie Hoybjerg (committee chair), Sarah Knudson, Amy Manning, Phil Meador, Eva Nye, Dan Ordyna, Tom Ottaway, Jordan Reed, John Sargent, Corey Schou, Jenny Semenza, Syd Sharp, Kyle Son and Josh Tolman.