Babcock building closer to demise

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat UA Babcock Inn residence hall is beginning to fall apart and there are no long-term renovations. UA administrators plan that Babcock will no longer function as a residence hall in about three to five years.

Residence Life Director James Van Arsdel said Monday that Babcock Inn is not a "perfect" place to live and work.

"It's not the most attractive building on campus," he said. "Babcock is clearly not the ideal space when we're trying to serve students."

Van Arsdel also said he doesn't want to put money into fixing the Babcock building, 1717 E. Speedway Blvd., because university administrators have not assured him it will continue functioning long-term as a residence hall.

"So long as I'm being told that there is a high likelihood that the building will be converted to other use, it doesn't justify spending the money to fix the building up," Van Arsdel said. "We want to be sure we're not using students' money unnecessarily. I have been told by representatives of the president's office that it will not remain a residence hall forever."

The Arizona Board of Regents last summer approved building a new UA residence hall replacing Babcock, Hopi and Sierra dorms because, according to the proposal, they are "functionally obsolete or of poor quality."

Babcock Hall Director Brad Henner said he heard the building would be demolished in about 3-5 years and possibly turned into office space. He also said the hall is not doing any long-term renovations.

"We've only done renovation that really needed to happen," he said.

Henner said UA officials don't share much information about Babcock's future with him, and that Van Arsdel "didn't even know about the English Department moving out."

University of Arizona officials confirmed Sunday that the English Department is moving about 120 employees from Babcock into the Computer Center.

A $500,000 construction project is underway to build offices in the west end of the Computer Center, giving the English Department enough space for about 160 instructors and teaching assistants.

English Department Head Larry Evers said while they've had offices in Babcock for about three years, he's looking forward to the early 1999 move.

The Critical Languages and Residence Life departments also have offices in Babcock, but officials from both said they've received no orders to pack up and move out.

Last summer, however, the regents voted in favor of plans to create new Residence Life offices at the UA and removing them from Babcock.

A regents proposal states: "The location and quality of the building (Babcock) inhibit effective program management."

David J. Cieslak can be reached via e-mail at David.J.Cieslak@wildcat.arizona.edu.