Thanks to a budget miscalculation, the University of Calgary Students' Union is planning to renovate the MacEwan Student Centre south courtyard.

The fortunate blunder occurred when the SU discovered an unused portion of the quality money they had previously received.

"We have $86,000 put away from the quality money," said SU president Emily Wyatt.

With that much extra to spend, a central location like the south courtyard--the area between the SU and Campus Security offices--seemed like the obvious place to renovate. The SU plans to put in more seating and build a stage for forums, clubs and a speaker series, saving the SU money in the long run because they typically have to rent out sound equipment and a stage.

"The redevelopment steering committee does all of the construction in MSC," said Wyatt. "We will be doing student consultations to see what they want in the space."

Ideally, construction will be finished by the end of the winter semester. The south courtyard won't be entirely closed during construction, however. There will be no new walls, just new furniture, allowing students continued use of the space.

"I think it's going to be a really nice place for students," Wyatt said.

Quality money is a fund allocated by the U of C board of governors to the SU to spend on either tuition relief or quality enhancement projects.