SU finishes MacHall Letter of Intent

By Jason Herring, March 28 2017 —

The Students’ Union and the University of Calgary have signed off on a letter of intent concerning the continued operation of MacHall. The letter is the first legal agreement between the two sides regarding the building since the 1999 License of Occupation, Operation and Management Agreement (LOOMA).

SU vice-president operations and finance Branden Cave outlined the letter in a report to Students’ Legislative Council on March 28. He said student services will not be negatively affected and that proceeds from third-party vendors in MacHall will be funnelled back to student services.

“Hopefully it will have no impact on how students experience the building and the services they require in here, as far as ones that are offered regularly by the SU. We maintain the common space and table bookings,” Cave said. “The whole goal of the letter of intent, which was something that was reiterated by our side and as well by the university, was to maintain the status quo of the building. That way students and the campus community don’t feel that impact.”

SLC moved in camera to discuss the letter’s details. SU president Stephan Guscott said this was to help council understand the details before sharing it with the public, but that the actual document cannot be released for legal reasons.

U of C vice-president finance and services Linda Dalgetty said the university is pleased that the letter establishes boundaries for the operation of MacHall

“This is something we’ve been working on since October,” Dalgetty said.

U of C administration has had operational control of MacHall since an injunction application from the SU to maintain management of the building failed on Oct. 7, 2016. The U of C and the SU are still in an ongoing legal dispute over MacHall’s ownership after the SU filed a statement of claim in October 2015.

Dalgetty said the letter does not have any impact on the legal dispute.