STEVEN CARRILLO/ Arizona Daily Wildcat Construction worker Adan Monteros jackhammers through the street at the construction site of the Sixth Street Garage, while Roy Aldaca looks on. The $18 million garage, which is scheduled to open completely by February, will add 1,600 parking spaces to the campus.

Several construction projects with a combined price tag of more than $100 million continued throughout campus this year, with students beginning to see the results of the work in several places.

The first phase of the $60 million Student Union Memorial Center was completed in July. When it opened, there were concerns over the seating in eating areas. At the time, the seating area had space for 500 people, 700 fewer than in the old Memorial Student Union. But once completed, it will have seats for 1,600.

Some students also did not like the design of the new union.

ãMy big problem is that the new student union has that hospitalization look; the old union had character,ä said LeeAnn Crickenberger, a political science senior and director of the Womenâs Resource Center.

ãThe new union (is) so sterile,ä she said.

Once the entire Student Union Memorial Center project is finished in December, it will contain design features such as a walkway named The Canyon and a new clock tower. Part of the walkway will look like the side of the USS Arizona, a ship that sank during the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor.

ãThe union is a showcase for the city of Tucson and the state of Arizona,ä said Bob Bertolini, general superintendent for Swinerton Builders, the contractor working on the union.

Earlier this year, construction also began on the $39.7 million Highland District in the south campus area, which includes a new home for the Campus Health Center and the Disability Resource Center, more residence halls and a multi-purpose parking garage complex.

The three dorms will house 750 students, and the Sixth Street Parking Garage will add 1,600 covered parking spaces.

ãItâs significant because there was a master plan for the area, and this is the first time one has been implemented all at once,ä said Melissa Dryden, public information coordinator for Facilities Design and Construction.

The first hall should be ready for occupation in fall 2003, with the other two following the next fall. The first part of the garage is scheduled to open in August, and the rest will open in December.

During the summer, three new projects are set to begin, all expected to be finished in the summer of 2003.

The renovation and expansion of Park Student Union, 615 N. Park Ave., will add 21,781 square feet, renovate 29,033 square feet of the existing building, and provide expanded space for Dining Facilities, the Bookstore, Residence Life and Arizona Student Media, which includes the Arizona Daily Wildcat.

The Euclid Housing project, which will be located just north of Coronado Residence Hall on the southwest corner of campus, will provide 150 graduate housing units for about 325 students.

At its latest meeting, the Arizona Board of Regents approved the creation of a non-profit corporation to pay for its construction.

The Apache-Santa Cruz Residence Hall, 1440 E. Fifth St., project is a renovation of the student rooms, bathrooms, corridors, stairs and updates for the facility, including upgraded electrical, communications and fire safety needs.

ãAs of right now, more construction hurts the students; in the end, however, I know it will be incredibly beneficial for the students,ä Walter said.

The 2002-03 school year saw the end of two of the major Mall enhancement projects.

Recently, the major aspects of the improvements to the Main Library, 1510 E. University Blvd., were completed ÷ most notably adding an addition to the fifth floor, the Information Commons, an expanded Special Collections and an eatery, Bookends Cafe.

In February, the Eddie Lynch Athletics Pavilion addition to the McKale Memorial Center, 1721 E. Enke Drive, was completed. The project is now moving toward the renovation and expansion of the womenâs locker rooms.