ALYSON GROVE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshmen Ray Jaffe and Josh Nathel eat lunch at Park Student Union on Friday. Union renovation could begin as early as January.

Regents to consider additional funds for renovation, expansion that will last 9 months

The UA will pay $1.3 million more than originally proposed for renovating and temporarily closing the Park Student Union ÷ a project already delayed for 15 months ÷ if the Arizona Board of Regents approves the proposal later this week.

Construction and expansion could begin as early as January and continue for nine months.

The expansion is proposed to help serve the demand of residents in a 150-unit graduate housing complex now under construction next to Coronado Residence Hall, make the Park Student Union compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, remove asbestos and provide additional room for dining.

Additional space will also be provided for the UofA Bookstore, retail businesses, a convenience store, KAMP student radio, a Residence Life office and the Arizona Daily Wildcat.

In June, the first bids for construction were considered too high, so the Park Student Union project was redesigned and re-bid in October; but the contractor's estimates were again deemed too high. If the regents approve spending $1.3 million more on the union, the price tag for the renovation and expansion will come to more than $6 million.

Park Student Union construction has been delayed four times, and the completion date has been pushed back from June 2002 to May 2003 ÷ and now to September 2003.

The UA received four bids for the project. If regents approve the budget increase, the UA will likely not have to bid again; this would mean that construction could start in January, said Facilities Design and Construction senior architect Rodney Mackey, who is also the design project manager for the Park Student Union construction.

"Typically, most projects, far and away, bid once," Mackey said.

The bid process involves an architect preparing a set of documents and specifications for bidders, generally contractors, who estimate prices for the work, tally them up and submit a sealed bid, which is later open and announced, Mackey said.

The UA projects construction costs through a consultant who does design estimates, typically coupled with an independent estimate from a professional who is familiar with the area and its building costs, Mackey said.

After the contractors' bids came in too high, the decision was made to shorten the construction time from a year to nine months, and to close the union completely rather than keeping it partially open, said Dan Adams, director of Arizona Student Unions.

"It will be closed entirely," Adams said. "We are trying to shorten the time-frame and costs."

The proposal is to increase the budget for the project from $4.7 million to more than $6 million, and change the construction cost per gross square foot from $69 to $95.

If regents approve the proposal, bonds would pay for $3.3 million of the expenses, unchanged from the previous budget, and the auxiliaries involved would cover $2.7 million of the expenses instead of $1.4 million.

Arizona Student Media would be one of the larger occupants of the new building.

Other funds will be paid by the UofA Bookstore, Arizona Student Unions and Residence Life, said Alexis Hernandez, associate dean of students.

He expects the regents to approve the budget increase.

"We're all planning on it," Hernandez said.