By
Blake Smith
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Nearly 80 students to live in hotel for more than a week
Students who expected to be settled into their dorm rooms will spend the first few days of school living at a hotel - sleeping in queen size beds instead of a single, and bathing in a private shower instead of a community bathroom.
And while most University of Arizona students will be leaving pizza boxes and dirty clothes on their floor, the students who were displaced will have a maid to clean up their mess.
About 80 students will live in the nearby Plaza Hotel, 1900 E. Speedway Blvd., instead of Pima Hall until construction on the new addition is completed.
Crews are scrambling to finish the structure within the next 10 days, though the finish date has not been finalized.
"Students are taking the news very well," said Pamela Obando, associate director of UA Residence Life.
Obando said the university has its hands tied in this situation and has no control over the actual completion of the building.
Residents of the new addition began checking in at the hotel Wednesday, taking the temporary inconvenience in stride.
"I like the fact that I'm the first to move into the (new dorm) room, but it's irritating because I wanted my parents to help me move and now I'll have to do it alone," said Jennifer Etcoff, psychology freshman.
UA Residence Life sent out a two-page letter Aug. 3 to parents and students affected by the completion delay and Obando said the response has been positive.
Swinerton and Walberg Builders, the contractor for the expansion, was expected to finish the building by Aug. 1. Because they did not fulfill the terms of the contract, the company is now incurring daily fines until the building is completed, said UA Residence Life director Jim Van Arsdel.
Though Swinerton and Walberg estimated the fines against them to be about $1,500 a day, Obando said the fines levied against the builders are much heftier. She could not specify an exact amount..
UA Residence Life officials were also unwilling to release the cost of putting those students in the Plaza Hotel.
The reason for the delay is because UA Residence Life modified project plans during construction, said Bill Lonigan, project executive for Swinerton and Walberg.
"I'm sure they're displeased but we worked up until the deadline, and in a perfect world we would have been completed by now," Lonigan said.
The company has been behind throughout the construction process and the modifications to the original plan are not to blame for the delay, Obando said.
Keith Humphrey, Pima Hall director, said students and UA Residence Life have always known that there was a possibility the project may not be completed on time.
"We have been preparing since March to make sure that our students were taken care of," Humphrey said.
Business freshman Jake Janowski said he knew what to expect when he showed up Wednesday.
"When I came down for orientation in June, they told me (that Pima may not be completed)," Janowski said. Getting to move into a brand new dorm is worth the wait, he added.
Once the building is ready for students, Residence Life plans to help them move by providing vans and staff assistance, Obando said. In addition, a pool party and an ice cream party were held to help affected students adjust to their new surroundings.
While students are pleased so far with their temporary hotel stay, Residence Life officials won't be satisfied until the addition is completed.
"To say that we are very unhappy is putting it lightly," Obando added.
