The lockers outside of the Studio Arts & Crafts Centre, once available for a nominal fee each semester, have recently been converted to coin operation.

“We wanted to increase student access by making the lockers (available for) daily use,” said Tom Viel, assistant director of operations in the Union.

Viel also said Union administration encountered health and safety issues with the rental of the lockers.

“Historically we have had individuals leave behind food items that will rot and dirty clothes,” he said. “This can create odor and pest issues that we work very hard to avoid.”

Union administrators, along with student managers, came to the decision to convert the lockers to coin operation with the hope of better serving the 26,000 patrons who pass through the Union each day.

Viel said the Arts & Crafts Centre was neither benefited nor harmed by the rental of the lockers outside of its facility.

“It was a break-even service when taking into account lost (locker) keys, management of the lockers and labor to replace (lock) cores and keys,” Viel said.

Viel also said that Union administrators cannot predict whether or not the locker conversion will affect the centre and its patrons.

When asked if the conversion affected the centre, Katie Reiser, manager of the SACC, said, “Not at all.”

According to Viel, the use of the lockers by the homeless to store their belongings was one of many considerations, but it was not the primary one.

The primary reason for converting the lockers, Viel said, was to increase students’ access to them.

“At the end of the semester, we will evaluate the situation and see if we need to look at other solutions,” he said.

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