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Construction: 1 year down, many more to go

ILC progressing on schedule, Union slightly behind

Dave Odom almost had to wrestle a 46-year-old lady to the ground when she tried to cut through the construction area last month.

Odom said he told her she could not be in that area because it was a restricted zone, but she said had always been walking that route and did not want to change her path. She started yelling and almost hit him, which would have been grounds for him to arrest her if she had succeeded. Eventually she conceded and stormed away, he said.

"Change is the only constant in life, and construction is the most extreme, uncomfortable form of it," he said.

Odom, who is in charge of traffic and control security for Swinerton & Walberg, is responsible for ensuring the safety of workers and outside pedestrians. And he has his hands full with some people who walk around the campus every day.

"These are supposed to be intelligent people here, the future of America. One day I hear this sound and see two guys and a girl trying to scale the fence. I asked them what they were doing. The guy replied, 'Well, how are we supposed to get through here?'" Odom said.

Despite a few close calls, no accidents or deaths have happened on site of the new Student Union yet, according to Odom who has been working here since August.

"Security is not about enforcement," he said. "It's about learning how to find new routes."

Most University of Arizona students, staff and faculty have adapted to those new routes, but it hasn't always been easy.

Marshall Cokey, a psychology senior, found that with some walkways closed others become crowded and troublesome to navigate.

"From a pedestrian's standpoint, it just makes it more difficult to get around. The walkways are more packed and the people on bikes have a harder time avoiding accidents," he said.

But complaints have been few and far between for the most part, said UA spokeswoman Sharon Kha.

"I must say I'm astonished. I was prepared to spend the year dealing with complaints. But there just haven't been any," she said.

Kha cited some initial problems which were quickly addressed, like helping disabled students get around the construction, and finding a way for the staff and faculty working in the Psychology building to get from their new parking area to the building.

"Everybody's pitched in and bent a little when needed," she said.

Kha said the Integrated Learning Center should be up and running by the fall 2001 semester. Phase 1 of the Student Union was scheduled to be completed by Dec. 18, but workers are a little behind schedule, she said.

Gilbert Davidson, the assistant project manager for the project, said the setbacks range from rain to contaminated dirt that had to be cleared out. A tunnel also had to be worked around which caused more difficulties than expected.

Davidson said he isn't discouraged by the delays, though.

"I think it's been going very well. The structure itself has slowly been coming out of the ground, and it's a reminder things are coming along," he said. "Phase 1 steel should be up by the time the students return in the fall."

Douglas Huie, the senior project manager with Swinerton & Walberg, placed the delay with the construction at about a month behind schedule. He said the steel for Phase 1 should be completed by June and soon thereafter they will begin work on the interior.

"We are lucky to get some good subcontractors, and the university is a great client," he said.

Many students said they were indifferent about the construction this semester.

Grant Lewis, an undeclared sophomore, said he sees the construction as necessary and looks forward to the new campus.

"The construction was not an inconvenience," he said. "It symbolized the evolvement of our school. Bigger is better."

Dave Odom said that despite yelling at everyone all day, his view of the university has changed.

"It's become personified for me, it lives. It's an entire group of people I enjoy working with," he said. "I've lived in Tucson with my family for 35 years, and I'll never see the university the same again."

Ryan Bolin can be reached at Ryan.Bolin@wildcat.arizona.edu.