Summer construction yields new parking lots, McDonald's

Dan Hoffman Arizona Summer Wildcat The old Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering building, built in 1948, was torn down last week after workmen spent most of the summer removing salvageable and dangerous materials. The whole process took seven weeks, and the empty space will become a parkin g lot for service vehicles.

After demolition crews spent almost seven weeks removing salvageable materials and hazardous asbestos from the building, a Caterpillar track excavator crumbled the steel and masonry skeleton in just four days.

The facilities that had occupied the building were moved last December into the new Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering building, 1130 N. Mountain Ave.

The vacant site left by demolition will be paved to become a temporary parking lot for service vehicles, said Marlis Davis, director of Parking and Transportation Services at the University of Arizona.

Buildings are also being cleared from the north side of East Sixth Street between North Fremont and North Santa Rita avenues.

Crews are poised to begin demolition of the old Loft Theatre and several other structures to make space for parking, Davis said. The site will become a Zone 1 surface lot until the UA finalizes plans for a parking garage, perhaps in two years, she said.

Several construction projects underway in the Memorial Student Union are making space for more student and food services, said Student Union Director Dan Adams.

Taco Bell Express has moved east from Cafe Sonora to its new location between The A Bagel Express and the Pueblo Dining Room. The move is meant to spread out food services and eliminate the congestion that clogs Cafe Sonora, said Jerry Groch, manager of S tudent Union Dining Services.

Although the Taco Bell outlet is ready to open, Groch said, there have been delays in readying two other restaurants: McDonald's and The Fiddlee Fig.

The UA recently finalized an agreement to lease the 3,500 square-foot Terrace Dining Room to McDonald's in a deal that pays the university 6 percent to 11 percent of the restaurant's gross sales, Adams said.

McDonald's will use its own construction crews and pay at least $250,000 to convert the Terrace into a McDonald's restaurant, he said.

The crew has just begun work and estimates the job will be complete in six weeks, though Adams said he believes that may be an overly optimistic forecast.

Just below the Terrace, the Fiddlee Fig is being remodeled to make way for two lines of self-service, a larger beverage cooler and an expanded salad bar.

Students working at Dining Services said they doubt the Fig will be open and ready for business Aug. 25 when fall classes begin.

Groch admitted it may not be totally ready, but said the delays are due to electrical and plumbing work being done in the floor of the McDonald's space, which is above the the Fiddlee Fig.

Adams said all the construction in the Union has been completed at a low cost to the university.

Work has been done by UA staff, already on the payroll, and Adams estimates the extra costs to be about $22,000.

Other changes in the Union include the addition of Starbuck's Coffee products, a full-service post office, and a new Saguaro Credit Union Cat Card office, all in the lower level.