Behind the Natural Resources Building on Pennsylvania Avenue sits the Campus Bike Center, established three years ago. But after losing two of its primary funding sources, the Illinois Student Senate is reaching out to University administration to prioritize the allocation of $50,000 by June 30 to fund “the heart of the bicycle community.”

CBC currently has a budget of $65,000, with the Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign currently providing $13,300. However, James Roedl, director of CBC, said he is hoping the Bike Project will contribute more money to the budget. 

A remaining $50,000 is being requested from the University to maintain the center.

In 2011, the University was recognized as a bronze-level bicycle-friendly university by the League of American Bicyclists. This status expires in 2015. If the University wants to increase from its designated level, several bike-related items would need to be addressed, Morgan Johnston, associate director of sustainability, said. She said the CBC must continue to be funded in order for this to be a possibility. 

“Next year we will be applying again and we’re hopeful to get a higher designation,” Johnston said. “Instead of bronze, we’d like to be silver. We want to be excellent, we want to go from bronze to silver.”

Student Body President Mitch Dickey commented on the importance of prioritizing funding for CBC, stating that it offers a lot of educational services to students, as it teaches them how to repair and maintain their bikes.

“It is the most important bike issue on campus right now. It’s something that students utilize, it’s a center even outside of the use of the facility … it’s a great opportunity of growth for students,” he said.

Last year, 4,443 people visited the shop and signed in for assistance, Dickey said. 

The Student Sustainability Committee was designed to help get CBC started but not serve as a long term funding source, Johnston said.

“When they (SSC) funded it for this current year, they indicated that they should not be asked again just to maintain the status quo because they are really focused on getting things started but they’re not a long term source of funding,” she said.

The third source was from the University’s Facilities and Services discretionary account, which was contributed to “kick-start” the program. These funds, however, are no longer available. 

“They’re looking for a way to fund it but this is not something they traditionally do … normally their focus is maintaining buildings, and we do a lot of educational services,” said Roedl. “We focus on bikes here.”

Johnston mentioned the need to find a source of recurring funding to help maintain the center.

“What we’re looking for now is for a long-term funding solution,” she said. “That’s the ultimate goal – that it has reoccurring funding but because we haven’t identified a reoccurring funding source the immediate need is money to keep it open the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.”

Roedl said the CBC hopes to garner a foundation account where donors can give money to support the center.

“But the thing is this is really a service to the University, and the funding needs to come from them,” he said. “The University is looking to provide a source for funding. While we’re not funded currently, there are people looking for a solution.”

ISS plans to vote on a resolution calling on the University administration to prioritize the funding for the Campus Bicycle Center at its Wednesday meeting. 

Additionally, a meeting will take place on Thursday morning at the Courtyard Cafe regarding this issue. Dickey said they will be meeting with vice chancellor for student affairs Renee Romano, associate chancellor Mike Delorenzo and others. Johnston said representatives from the Illini 4,000, BikeFace, an advocacy group and Students for Environmental Concerns will also be in attendance. 

“In order to keep those going we need to keep the Bike Center open. It is an educational center that has experiential learning … it’s really the core of the bicycling community on campus,” said Johnston. “I think it has a very powerful meaning to the students on campus that are aware of it.”

Johnston also said that the Center focuses on sustainability by promoting using bikes instead of cars for transportation. He added this will allow people, through membership, to make their own bikes, which holds the potential to save a lot of money.

“(CBC)’s a bridge for community on campus,” Dickey said. “And it’s been requested by the biking community that if there’s one that the University is going to fund, that this should be it.”

Edward can be reached at [email protected].