DANIELLE MALOTT/Arizona Daily Wildcat Lyssa Manasio, a pre-business sophomore, strolls across the UA Mall yesterday afternoon. The lawn has little grass left on it and will need to be re-sodded after the semester is over.

Nathan Bell remembers the first time he set eyes on the UA Mall.

Bell, a computer engineering and science sophomore, visited UA when he was a high school junior, and he remembers standing on the grass, watching the Mall come to life as students threw a frisbee around and laid out in the sun.

But now Bell eats his lunch on the lawn in front of the Administration building, 100 yards away from the place where he stood that day. From there, he can see the mangled and almost bare stretch of land that was once the center of campus life.

"I have been waiting years for them to get the Mall together," Bell said. "Hopefully, they will get it right this summer."

Associate Director for Facilities Management Chris Kopach said, however, that the wait for grass on the Mall is almost over.

Kopach said that immediately following the May 17 commencement ceremony, the area stretching from Old Main to the Joseph Wood Krutch cactus garden will be covered in rolls of new sod.

The 50,000 square foot lawn will cost nearly $30,000 to re-turf.

According to grounds supervisor Janine Corbin, the bulk of the grass was killed by heavy foot traffic during construction of the Student Union Memorial Center when students were forced to use the Mall as a detour.

As part of the rebuilding process, Swinerton Builders, the contractors of the new union, reseeded the Mall in the fall.

However, Corbin said that by reseeding the lawn just weeks before the semester began, Swinerton didn't allow enough time for the grass to take root.

"You had immature plants with heavy foot traffic. It just didn't have time to root down into the sub-grade," Corbin said.

But this time, he added, protective barriers around the area should protect the sod until early August so the grass can grow and stay alive even after they come down.

"The sod can handle the traffic. It will be a lot stronger. It's going to look really nice," Corbin said.

The university is in the midst of working out a deal in which Swinerton would carry some of the financial burden after botching last summer's seeding, Kopach said.

Sodding will cost approximately 60 cents per square foot instead of 15 to 20 cents to simply reseed it, making the sod at least $20,000 more than a regular reseeding.

Corbin said reseeding is not an option due to the condition of the dirt on the Mall.

Kopach said the cost will be worth having the Mall back in all its grass-covered state.

"Everybody wants grass on the Mall. It's kind of an eyesore right now," Kopach said.

Some students agreed, saying that being able to sit on the grass between classes would be worth the monetary cost.

"I think it would definitely be cool to have some grass," said Stephen Trush, a computer science senior. "When I first came here it looked all nice, but if I were a new student I am not sure I would choose UA. The grass kind of represents the rest of the university."

Other students said that although a green Mall would be nice, they don't understand how UA can justify spending $30,000 on grass in the face of layoffs and budget cuts.

"They're cutting my classes for next fall due to budget cuts, so I would much rather sit in class than sit on the lawn," said Shannon Doran, political science senior.