By Cindy Garcia
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After seven years, the University of Iowa Dance Marathon will be able to expand its reaches to the ground floor of the IMU — the venue for its Big Event.

The ground floor was damaged by the 2008 flood, which shut down several buildings across campus.

Now, Megan Siska, the UI Dance Marathon operations head, said the extra space will house a variety of different activities and give attendees of the Big Event a chance to breathe.

“We’re basically just going to be using the ground floor to ease up the congestion that happens during the Big Event,” she said.

Siska said morale group meetings, for example, will be held on the ground floor instead of the Hubbard Commons.

A press room will also be set up on the ground floor. There, Siska said, interviews can be conducted without noise disturbances or masses of students.

Karaoke and another venue for a talent show will set up shop there, too.

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Siska, who has been a part of Dance Marathon for four years, said the utilization of the ground floor will be noticeable.

“Personally, being on operations this year has had a huge effect on us because we’re the people who plan out the maps of where the activities will be,” she said.

Siska noted that although the operations team was primarily involved with the move, the utilization of the ground floor is universally beneficial.

“It’s a good thing for everyone involved with Dance Marathon, across the board,” she said.

Sarah Jensen, who is part of the leadership on the operations committee, said she hopes the utilization of the ground floor will expand in the coming years.

“This year it was hard to decide what to do with the ground floor because it hasn’t been used in a while,” she said. “It is going to be under-used this year because we didn’t have tons of time since the ground floor opened and when the Big Event happens.”

Jensen said this is her second year with Dance Marathon, and she is excited about the opportunities the ground floor holds.

“It is just another place in the IMU for memories to be made, and I believe that dancers and families are going to love the new space,” she said.