Brady expansion to begin this summer

By Jaryd Wilson, Staff Writer
Jan. 30, 2007

Students will have to wait a little longer for the expansion process on the new student center to begin. A setback in the bid for a contractor has pushed the start of construction back to July. The process was originally planned to start Jan. 1.

Matt Sokoloff, a student coordinator for the new student center project, said the bids came in approximately $7 million over the anticipated budget.

"The budget definitely came in too high, so we are taking extra steps to cut the cost of the project," Sokoloff said. "We're still in the process of getting our first bid, which is why we want to wait until the summer to start."

One thing the planning committee is considering is offering two separate bids.

Sokoloff said with the unpredictability of stable building prices during the next four years, it is easier to go with two separate bids because each bid would be estimated over a two-year period instead of four.

Sokoloff said he hopes this will result in less inflated bids.

Student and Auxiliary Services spokeswoman Michelle Froese said prices for construction items are a primary reason for the change in approach.

"Prices of steel and other items needed for construction have been getting higher, quicker," Froese said. "We were surprised that the bids came in so high, but we hope this will be a better solution."

The project will be completed in two separate phases.

"Project one will be the east additions and project two will be the refurnishing of the existing building," Froese said.

Sokoloff said other ways to decrease the cost are through value engineering, square footage and reassigning funds.

"With value engineering, we're looking at what the uses of the parts of the building are versus the cost of building them," Froese said. "We want to make sure we get the most out of everything we build."

Taylor McKinney, a student representative for the new student center project, has attended all of the meetings and said the committee is trying to be as efficient as possible.

"We are considering space that isn't useful, such as roof hangings, that we can eliminate from the plan and save some money," McKinney said. "We're also considering changing circled corners to square because we actually get more square footage that way while saving money too."

Another opportunity to increase the use of space for students is due to the fact that the Counseling Center is not going to move into the revamped Brady Commons.

"Counseling and testing was going to be there, but since they aren't coming, we're reassigning that space to students," Froese said.

McKinney said she is glad there is extra space for students in the new plan.

"Counseling and testing didn't want to move there anyway and we don't want to move them against their wishes," McKinney said. "That opens up more space for students and makes the plan more effective."

The $61 million project will add approximately 145,000 square feet of new space on the east side of the existing building, 46,600 square feet of renovated space in the existing building and 35,000 square feet of unfinished space for future expansion.

"This whole project is working toward building a student-oriented building that will be better for students," Sokoloff said.

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Brady expansion to begin this summer

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