In today’s paper, Max Marshall and Ben Sheng wrote about how Columbia University is trying to re-use existing space rather than renovate as a way to create more areas for student groups.

Columbia College Student Council President Karishma Habbu, CC ’13 is quoted as saying:

We have these unused spaces on campus, which either could be snazzed up a little bit or even just used,” Habbu said. “So instead of kind of a reinventing of the wheel, or trying to spend tons of money, or trying to change this 10-year game plan, let’s use what we have. We have these unused spaces—let’s see what we can do with them.

In an attempt to help out Columbia in their efforts, here are five spaces that could be re-used for anything from club meetings to school events:

1. The Stacks

While it pains me to take away the number one place for having secret library sex, the underused stacks represent a huge waste of space. I can think of a million events that could make great use of a narrow, poorly lit space, like a haunted house or a poetry slam.

2. Low Steps

Yes, it’s nice to have a big open space on campus, but with the need to accommodate more and more students, this is a luxury we can’t afford. Instead, we could use the steps for P.E. Students could get a workout running up and down the stairs and then could pose next to Alma, Rocky-style.

3. Dodge Pool

We already know the Barnard pool is taking up too much space, but let’s not let Dodge off the hook! Why don’t we hold classes there in the non-swimming hours? Aqua-CC could be a new combination Core class where kids learn how to analyze Homer and swim at the same time!

4. Baker Field

Many sports teams, from football to women’s archery, make use of Baker Field, but I can’t help but feel there’s wasted potential. Maybe use Baker every Saturday as a place to let students take tests, since it gets awfully quiet there during the second half of most games.

5. Lerner

Lerner’s “innovative” architectural design of having miles and miles of unused ramps is is often criticized, but maybe the architect was just planning for the future. Bring some chairs to the higher floors and there could be one club meeting for each mini-suspension bridge.

Do you have any ideas for spaces Columbia could re-use? Let us know in the comments!