Timetable to complete Brady starts April 30

The first and second phases of the plan are now under separate bids.

By Jaryd Wilson

Published April 17, 2007

Bids for a contractor for phase one of the Brady Commons expansion will be sent out April 30, and this construction phase is expected to be completed by mid-fall of 2008, said Matt Sokoloff, a student coordinator for the project.

Sokoloff said bids will be due June 5 in order to get construction started by mid-June.

"We're looking at a construction budget of about $22 million for the first project," Sokoloff said.

Sokoloff said the process was originally planned to begin Jan. 1, but the contracting bids came in $7 million over budget.

This forced the planning committee to separate the project into a separate bid for each phase.

The two phases were originally under the same bid.

The separate bids will be made in hopes that the estimated bid projections would be more accurate over a smaller time frame.

"Prices of steel and other items needed for construction have been getting higher, quicker," Student and Auxiliary Services spokeswoman Michelle Froese said in a previous interview on Jan. 30. "We were surprised that the bids came in so high, but we hope this will be a better solution."

Campus Facilities spokesman Phil Shocklee said the funding for this project would come from student fees and university contributions.

Student activities fees will increase from $22 to $57 per semester and will fund 52 percent of the project starting fall 2008.

This fee only applies to students taking 12 or more hours per semester. Campus departments including Campus Dining Services and Student and Auxiliary Services will contribute the other 48 percent needed for the expansion.

The staging area for construction materials will be in the area just northeast of Brady Commons.

That area is fenced off, and though there have been concerns that it deteriorates the image of the campus, Sokoloff said there's not much the planning committee can do about where to put it.

No timetable has yet been set for the second phase of the expansion.

"On April 30, we will open the bidding process so we can complete this first project in the fall of 2008," Sokoloff said. "We're still on pace to have the first project completed on time."

When the entire new student center is complete, food service space, student government space, student arts and media space and campus activities space will have doubled in size.

Therefore, more food choices and eating space, as well as more offices and labs, will be available in the student center.

Study and lounge space, meeting space and student clubs and organizations space will all triple in size, the Department of Greek Life space will quadruple in size and student service offices including the Multicultural Center, the Women's Center, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, and the Rape Education Office will collectively gain approximately 2 1/2 times more space.

Taylor McKinney, a student representative for the Brady Commons expansion, 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 in a previous report. "We're also considering changing circled corners to square because we actually get more square footage that way while saving money too."