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A campus under construction

Arizona Summer Wildcat

Six major projects underway

When students return for the fall semester, there will be plenty of headaches, and it won't be from drinking.

As students walk across campus on their first day of class, they will pass a barrage of unearthed dirt, cranes and backhoes.

The University of Arizona has six major construction projects in progress, and the number is growing.

Over the next two years, the UA is expected to complete 18 major construction and demolition projects in an effort to alleviate parking woes, increase dorm space and raise retention rates.

Future looks bright underground

With a record number of freshmen coming to the UA this fall, the fact remains that nearly half will not return for their second year.

This reality has led university officials to try to find a way to change the disturbing trend. The solution has come in the form of the Integrated Learning Center.

Started last summer, the new center will serve as an environment to help first-year students succeed. The $26 million building will house four technologically superior classrooms, four multimedia lecture halls and six discussion classrooms.

Once finished, the ILC will provide tutoring and advising but will also concentrate many services already available on campus.

An information commons, complete with high-speed computers, will connect the Main Library's ground floor to the ILC. What makes the center unique is not so much what it will offer, but where it will be offered.

The one-story building will cover a space of more than 85,000 square feet, entirely underground.

Melissa Dryden, UA Facilities Design and Construction spokeswoman, said the building could be easy to miss.

"One of the intentions when building the center was to preserve the look of the Mall," Dryden said.

She added that when somebody looks down the Mall, their view will not be restricted by the new building.

One of the major concerns of students when the project was proposed was the drastic reduction in usable recreation space on the mall.

Dryden said the Mall area directly above the ILC could open by late spring or summer.

"The mall will be replaced and will feature expanded grass recreation areas," Dryden said.

When the building is opened in the fall of 2001, it is expected to serve nearly 4,500 students.

Out with the old, in with the new

Built in 1951, the Memorial Student Union was designed to accommodate 15,000 visitors daily. At the turn of the millennium, the Union is overflowing with more than 74,000 visitors every day.

Bigger problems - including differential aging in the building, leaks, rotting pipes and asbestos - are plaguing the Union.

UA officials estimated that fixing the problems would cost $14 million. Instead, administrators explored the possibility of building a new union.

The $59 million building is being constructed on the current student union site, though no operations are expected to be affected, and the project is nearly on-schedule, said Gilbert Davidson, assistant project manager for the new student union/bookstore.

"The bookstore portion of the union will be completed by December, and they will start moving in then," he said. "It will officially open in January for the spring semester."

The "student union area" - located where Gallagher Theatre used to stand - is expected to open in February or March, Davidson said.

Plans to recreate the famed Cellar and Sam's Place are part of the master construction plans.

For those who enjoy cheap movies, the cornerstone of the Student Union, the Gallagher Theatre, will also be replaced. It will be used for meetings and presentations during the day, and will act as a movie theater at night.

The new Gallagher will feature a state-of-the-art sound and projection system, as well as modern lighting. However, the theater will be able to hold about 350 people, substantially less than Gallagher's capacity of 600.

Unlike the current Student Union, the new facility will feature a functioning clock tower.

Davidson added that the project is being funded by bookstore and union revenue, UA Intercollegiate Athletics, students, taxpayers and a contract with PepsiCo Inc.

A second phase of the new Student Union, which will be started once the first phase is completed, should be operational by 2002.

Remembering the past, and building for tomorrow

Groundbreaking took place in June for a new addition to the McKale Center that will remember past UA sports legends and give current students a place to transform themselves into legends.

The three-story Eddie Lynch Athletic Pavilion will feature a new weight room and medical facility for student athletes in the basement and a Hall of Champions on the main level.

Demolition of the north side concourse is currently underway, and excavation for the basement will begin soon, Dryden said.

The current McKale Center weight room will become the new women's locker room.

Construction of the project has closed off the large grass sector north of McKale, one of the few remaining recreation areas on the Mall, and is expected to be completed next summer.

Accommodating the masses

Since December, construction crews have been racing to add more than 80 beds to the all-female Pima Hall in time for the fall semester.

Nearly 20,000 square feet of space is being added to the former Theta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house to help relieve a housing crunch around campus.

With the new addition, bed capacity will increase from 57 to 137 beds. The new addition is expected to be completed in time for the return of students.

But, architecturally speaking, the building will have a different feel, Dryden said.

"Architects apparently intended for the buildings not to match," she said.

The existing building's exterior surface is jagged and non-uniform, while the new addition will be smooth brick.

Crews are giving priority to finishing the new bedrooms in time for August, while the living room will be completed afterwards.

This new addition is part of a massive effort by the university to alleviate housing overcrowding.

Making room

With a new information commons expected to connect the Integrated Learning Center and Main Library, more space was needed to accommodate the expansion.

To accomplish that, university officials have decided to add a fifth floor to a wing of the library.

This fifth floor will house library administration offices, which are currently located in the basement of the facility - the future information commons.

Once constructed, the library will not only have an information commons, but will also have expanded collection capacity.

Within the past two weeks, the main circulation desk has been moved to the basement of the library in preparation for the construction.

Not only will the administration get new offices, but a large portion of the library, including the main level circulation desk, will be completely remodeled.

Construction on the $11 million expansion is expected to start within the next month, said Jim Fromm, facility monitor for UA libraries.

"I want to stress that we will continue to provide all services during construction," Fromm said.

Many students go to the library to get away from the construction noise and to study in a quiet environment.

But Fromm said construction crews will be working during strategically placed times, when the fewest amount of students will be in the library.

He added that noise from construction will be kept to a minimum, and there will still be plenty of places in the library to escape the impact of construction.

No walkways will be closed by the construction, and operations will continue as normal, Fromm said.

The project is expected to be completed in about 14 months and could open by early next fall.

The parking crunch

Frustrated students looking for parking spaces this fall will have one more option to choose from.

The new Tyndall Avenue Parking Garage is expected to partially open this fall.

A portion of the new 1,700-space garage, which is located on the north side of Coronado Residence Hall, will open in August, said Patrick Kass, director of Parking and Transportation.

Nearly 750 spaces will be opened to permit holders, and an additional 100 will be opened to visitors, he said.

By the end of December, construction crews are expected to be completed with the garage, which will be the largest on campus.

However, the new garage will not completely alleviate parking woes.

UA Parking and Transportation is currently planning a new garage for East Sixth Street and talks are currently underway to build two more garages north of Speedway Boulevard.