RANDY METCALF

Dan Adams, director of Arizona Student Unions, explained union building blueprints at a press conference yesterday. Adams said the building's congestion problems will subside once Phase 2 of the Student Union Memorial Center project is completed

Thursday August 30, 2001 |

Phase 2 of project will add more seats, reduce wait time in eating areas

Student Union Memorial Center officials responded to key concerns from students over the new union's lunchtime traffic congestion and industrial, mall-like atmosphere at an informal press conference held yesterday.

Phase 1 of the union, which represents the culmination of over two years of construction, currently only seats 500 people in its eating areas - 200 of those in the Wildcat Food Court - which is approximately 700 total seats less than the old union.

Dan Adams, director of Arizona Student Unions, said the new union, once completed, will seat 1,600 people, but that is not until December 2002, provided Phase 2 does not meet the same delays and hiccups as Phase 1 did.

"To take the building down and continue operating at the same time is a tough thing to pull off," Adams said. "What was really important was that we had the union up and running before classes began."

The portion that is currently open represents less than half the square footage of the finished product, Adams said.

As the union has advertised in the past, new eating facilities will open in Phase 2, which Adams said will reduce long lines.

Gilbert Davidson, project manager for the student union project, addressed comments about the mall-like atmosphere of the union. He added that building design decisions were made after taking into consideration student commentary.

"There has never been another building with more input," he said.

He pointed to a report done before the construction project, which cites preliminary safety and construction evaluations as well as a survey of 8,000 students conducted by Associated Students of the University of Arizona in 1991.

Only a portion of the survey is included in the report, and it reads, "The student comments indicate: (Students) would like some privatized food services like a Burger King, Eegee's, Subway, etc."

This study prompted planners to design a food court setting, similar to that of a mall, Adams and Davidson said.

Adams said the northern area of Phase 1 - where retail and office spaces are located - is not yet complete, and some of those outlets will relocate to Phase 2, once completed.

"Even now, we're putting finishing touches on the building," Adams said. "Half the things in the hallway are not there permanently."

A new theater, similar to the old Gallagher Theatre, will open along with Phase 2, Adams said. Also, a new version of The Cellar, pool tables, possibly a computer lab and more student leisure areas - currently absent in the new union - will be brought back once Phase 2 opens.

"What (students) are going to miss are the relationships they built at the university, not the building itself," Adams said. "As new students come, they'll develop their own memories in the building."

Along with the union's completion, the UofA Bookstore will nearly double in size once it is finished. Construction costs for the Student Union Memorial Center amount more than $60 million.