Students looking forward to the renovated and expanded Union will have to wait a month and a half longer for construction to begin.
An increase in construction cost has caused the construction date on the project to be delayed five to six weeks, and the rising prices are forcing University officials to rethink some of the plans in order to cut cost.
“The estimates were higher than what we anticipated when we started planning,” said LSU Union Director Shirley Plakidas. “But that’s been true of construction projects everywhere because one of the fallouts of Katrina is that construction cost increased as much as 40 to 50 percent.”
Construction is set to start Oct. 1, but the original plan may change. The University is coming up with alternatives to the original plan to cut costs, Plakidas said. “There are alternates being proposed by the staff, students and architects to create a number of alternatives as to how much money we’re saving,” said Jerry Baudine, vice chancellor for finance and administrative services. “A decision will be made with available funds.” University officials working with Student Government made a list of alterations from the original plans. “We sat down with SG and went through a list of 10 to 15 items from changing internal railing systems to…reducing the scope of work in the southwest parking lot,” said Emmett David, director of facility development. “It allows us to begin to start prioritizing.” Planning for the project began in 2001, and students voted in 2003 to approve a fee to pay for the expansion. “You can’t plan for that increase in cost three to four years ago,” David said. The project will still include a hi-tech lounge facing the oak grove, office space for about 50 student organizations, a 24-hour ‘Late-night’ zone, expansion of the Tiger Lair food court and a new entrance on the southeast corner. While the overall costs have gone up, University officials said they do not know exactly how much the project will cost. The project was supposed to be partially funded by a $56 million bond and a self-assessed fee by students, starting at $10 per semester in fall 2003 and increasing to $60 by spring 2006. “We will know in the next few weeks exactly what the cost will be,” Plakidas said. “We will be looking at options-maybe private fundraising or the Union’s reserves.” The building opened in 1964 when total enrollment was 13,000 students. It is closer to 30,000 now, and this will be the Union’s first major renovation, Plakidas said. “We felt lucky to stay so close to target,” Plakidas said. “We’re hoping for a late September groundbreaking.” Plakidas said while construction has been delayed a few weeks, Union officials are glad it was only for a short time. “The project is not in jeopardy,” Plakidas said. “It’s definitely going to happen.” During the three years of construction, the Union will only be closed during the 2006-2007 Christmas holiday because of internal wiring and lighting repairs. “Our goal is to keep all of our services up and running during the construction,” Plakidas said.
—–Contact Elizabeth Miller at [email protected]