One of the biggest aspects of Buena Vista University’s campus is being right on the shore of Storm Lake. The BV Rec House is the hub for students, where they are able to check out equipment such as kayaks and canoes to explore the lake. However, it has been closed due to the COVID-19 restrictions.  

 Trevor Berneking used to be BV’s Rec House coordinator, however he has taken on the a new position at BV, that being Director of Esports and Intramurals. Berneking says what he’ll miss most about working at the Rec House is, “Interacting with all of the students and the great view!” 

A lot of the decisions surrounding the reopening comes from first year Rec House coordinator, Erica Swanson, who started at Buena Vista this August, after taking over for Berneking. “Obviously…managing that space during a pandemic is not the easiest transition but luckily Trevor is still here… his guidance has made the transition a lot easier.” 

“I think Erica’s position fits right into the ultimate goal of the Rec House. [She] will oversee the Rec House and equipment rental [and] is a great addition to our staff,” Trevor Berneking praises. 

The Rec house being closed leaves people unable to check out equipment that is used to explore the lake, cuts down on the ability to host events non-virtually, and around campus as well. Developing safety procedures for use of the space and equipment checkouts, along with new renovations that began over the summer, has caused the Rec House to still be closed.  

Trevor explains, “I think it opens up the space to be more utilized more as a leadership development area for groups and organizations. Just like before, student groups and organizations will be able to reserve the space for get-togethers, events, and meetings.”  

These new renovations for the BV Rec House include all new floors, a new interior paint job, and furniture rearrangements along with new pieces.  

“We’re still working on improving the Rec House and restructuring the space so the physical house is not ready to be open yet,” Erica says. 

 So far this semester, all of the events that would normally be hosted with the help of the Rec House have been done virtually for the students in order to limit in-person interactions.  

Opening the Rec House this semester is still up for debate as Erica says she would love to see it opened up some point this semester but explained that there’s no physical timeline on that happening quite yet.  

“Things are changing every minute with how we are going about providing involvement opportunities and activities for students and with how we are going to do so safely.” 

Some of it does come down to how the university can combat COVID-19. 

“It’ll really depend on how our campus adapts over the next couple of months with COVID-19 and how we can ensure the Rec House can open safely, how we can ensure we do equipment checkout safely, how we can make sure we’re sanitizing everything properly, and keeping it safe,” Erica further explains. 

She also puts emphasis on the students and what they do over the next couple months so that they can get the Rec House, and all it has to offer, back into campus life. Erica stated how the students need to follow the guidelines put in place for them on campus in order to make it safe to have experiences, like the Rec House, open back up.  

Erica also says once more information is available and updates can be given on the status of reopening the BV Rec House, it will be sent out to students via BVU News. She also teased big, exciting things including improvements and additional programming coming to the Rec House when it opens back up.