JON HELGASON

UA President Peter Likins said at the ABOR meeting Wednesday in Tempe that campus construction will survive short-term budget cuts. The Ina Gittings and Meinel Optical Sciences buildings are two of the building renovation projects that will survive cuts.

Friday September 28, 2001

Legislature funding cuts could stop future construction, officials say

UA officials disagree over whether construction approved by the Arizona Board of Regents Wednesday will proceed as planned.

New residence halls and a campus health and disabilities resources facility at East Sixth Street and North Highland Avenue may still be built despite impending funding cuts.

Construction will continue as part of University of Arizona President Peter Likins' plan to survive short-term budget cuts while still developing for the future.

"We can't make painless cuts, or cuts just to get us through this year, but we need cuts that will serve the university's long-term health," Likins said at the ABOR meeting.

He said projects that serve the university in the long run, such as construction, must continue.

Those buildings approved for renovation and construction before the budget cuts - the Ina Gittings and Meinel Optical Sciences buildings - will be constructed as planned, said Joel Valdez, senior vice president for business affairs.

ABOR approved $17.2 million to expand the Meinel Optical Sciences building. Construction of a new wing of meeting rooms, offices, an auditorium and classrooms will begin in September 2002.

The board also approved $26.4 million in funding for the relocation of Arizona International College, construction of two new residence halls and a parking garage at East Sixth Avenue and North Highland Avenue, a new location for Campus Health and expansion of the Ina Gittings building.

However, budget cuts from the Arizona Legislature may delay these projects.

The expansion of the Ina Gittings building costs $9 million. Of this, $6 million will come from donations, with the UA paying the $3 million difference, said Dick Roberts, assistant vice president and budget director of the UA Budget Office.

However, if the university falls short of the $3 million, donors will ask that their contributions be returned, and the Gittings project will halt indefinitely.

"We have to look at all of our capital projects in light of how this whole budget project works out," Roberts said.

The future of planned residence halls, the parking garage and the new Campus Health building is also uncertain, Roberts said.

"All of this may well get delayed," he said.