By
Daniel Scarpinato
Arizona Summer Wildcat
Delays and hiccups in student union and ILC construction persist.
Though anticipation over the culmination of the two largest construction projects ever undertaken by the UA has been looming for several months, completion date after completion date has come and gone, while the projects remain unfinished.
Redevelopment of the Memorial Student Union began in Fall 1999 and will continue for at least another year.
The entire project's original completion date was set for August 2002. However, every other phase of the project has been delayed, based on projected completion dates.
Empty shelves
In March, the UofA Bookstore, ASUA, and student services offices moved into the first completed part of the facility, which is located on the north side of the union.
The bookstore, located at 1209 East University Boulevard, lost substantial amounts revenue during the move, said director Frank Farias.
Farias said the bookstore was hidden from visitors not familiar with the campus and less accessible than the old bookstore for students who rarely journeyed to the north side of the union.
He also said an original date of October 30 last year was given as the moving date for the bookstore.
After all the textbooks had been packed away, the bookstore was notified that they would not be moving until November.
Once the November date passed, Farias made a commitment not to move until March 2001 since the clearing of shelves had caused a loss in revenue and required more staff.
The bookstore's sales for this year are down 10 percent from last year, and although Farias believes that there were other factors involved, he said construction has had a substantial impact on sales.
The construction project caused the bookstore to spend more money on staff while losing the customer traffic it enjoyed and depended on at its other location.
For the 2000-2001 fiscal year, the bookstore saw sales drop more than $300,000.
"Our sales are down as a result of less walk in, impulse shopping," Farias said.
General book sales, a major component of the store's income, remained steady, while sales on computer supplies and software suffered the most.
The publication of course packets and the sale of school supplies were down as a result of faculty and staff not wanting to venture through the construction, Farias said.
Farias believes that sales will rebound once the entire union is completed.
The bookstore will triple in size, and the entrance will be relocated to the east side of the bookstore in what will be called the "canyon" of the new union.
"Everyone thinks that the store looks great now," Farias said. "But this is not a proper representation of what the final product will be."
Internal renovations
Most recently, another hiccup in the student union project occurred when Doug Huie, project manager for the student union, left the project for a position with another company.
Huie was in charge of relaying information from the architects and engineers to the contractors and builders.
Bob Bertalingy of Swinerton and Walberg, the company contracted by the university to construct the new union, said Huie has gone back to a company he used to work for due to a "better offer", but he did not have the name of that employer.
Bertalingy said Huie is a "great guy", and both his new employer and Swinerton and Walberg would be "happy to have him".
Dan Adams, student union director, did not know why Huie left.
"All I know is that I came in one day and was told that Friday would be (Huie's) last day with us," he said.
Gilbert Davidson, project manager of the student union, said that Huie, who left three weeks ago, has "moved on", and his position has been filled by Curt Jennings of Swinerton and Walberg's Los Angeles office.
Huie could not be reached for comment.
Can campus and construction cohabitate?
According to the early deadlines set by Swinerton and Walberg Construction, the east portion of the student union - which will house a new union food court and a host of other services - should be open by now.
Davidson said this area of the facility should be completed by June 29 due to construction and deadline delays.
"This date is pretty certain," he said. "We are confident we can make it."
Davidson had said in early May that the union's east portion would be ready by mid-June.
Provided the June 29 deadline is met, food services will be relocated to their new location beginning in late-June or early July.
Davidson said students can look forward to seeing a lot of changes in the fall. Access to North Campus Drive via Mountain Avenue will open up. In addition, Second Street Garage's west entrance will re-open.
"This will clear up a lot of traffic congestion," Davidson said.
A new outdoor patio and eating space between the union and the administration building will also be completed.
Davidson pointed out that although the completion date of the union was not met, a small area of the building has opened.
The CatCard and All Aboard Meal Plan offices and a portion of the union's new bank have moved into their new pads and can be accessed from the north side of the building by following signs near the administration building.
The offices, however, are still under construction, and construction workers are completing the remainder of the bank.
Adams said that by Monday, June 25, all the services currently in the basement will be relocated to this area.
As new services move in and open throughout the summer, Adams said that there will always be ongoing construction in the area.
Suellyn Hull, assistant controller of the CatCard services, said the construction noises in the new offices are a small price to pay for leaving the basement of the old student union.
"We have expanded our work stations and can now accommodate more students," Hull said.
The new office, which is more than 900 square feet in size, is three times the size of the old one. Hull said the maze of chain link fences that lead students to the office are not permanent, but they have made it a struggle for incoming freshman to find.
"Eventually, the union food court will lead students to the office, and the area will be more accessible," she said.
Hull said the CatCard office, however, has remained very busy throughout the moving process.
The office shut down for three days before reopening on June 14, and employees have been putting in 12 hour workdays since then, Hull said.
The day the fences come down
The university's other construction project has been underway for just about as long as the student union.
The Integrated Learning Center, a 119,032 square-foot learning center located underneath the UA mall, was set to be completed early this month.
Janet Fore, head of the undergraduate services team that will run the ILC, had hoped to move her team underground around June 1, but will have to wait until July 9 to get her keys to the ILC due to construction delays.
At that time, telecommunications equipment and other technology will be installed in the underground facility.
"You've got high hopes going into a project like this," Fore said, admitting some frustration with having to wait longer then expected. "But for a construction project this size, it is really a small delay."
Despite the delay, Fore believes that the ILC will be ready for "test classes" who will try out the new equipment this fall.
If everything continues as planned, permanent classes will be held inside the facility starting in January, Fore said.
"I would like to walk in that first week of July and see things completed and not in complete disarray," Brian Dolen, project manager for the ILC, said.
Dolen said that the construction going on now consists of finishing activities. Crews are putting in carpet, desks, and seating.
Whether or not the inside of the ILC is completed by the new date, the exterior will be completed and fences will come down from around the UA mall on July 2, Dolen said.
"They need to come down so that the union project can progress," he said.
In order for progress to be made, the portion of the mall in front of the old union building will need to be closed off. Therefore, the other end of the mall - where the ILC has been built - needs to be opened.
Davidson said that once the union dining services relocate, demolition on the old facility will progress quickly, and construction vehicles will be housed in the fenced area.
