More Than $100 Million Planned for Construction on UA Campus

Construction projects totaling more than $100 million are either under way or are planned for the University of Arkansas campus in the near future.

Don Pederson, vice chancellor for finance and administration, said some of the projects were approved by the UA Board of Trustees at a meeting Oct. 2.

The projects include the following:

• A new facade for the west side of Reynolds Razorback Stadium, at a cost between $3 million and $5 million. The UA is currently looking for an architect to design the project, so a completion date hasn’t been set.

• Renovation of the seven-story, 104,000-SF Science and Engineering building has been going on since March. The entire project is expected to cost $11 million. Classes are expected to resume in that building in the fall of 2002. Part of the renovation included the removal of asbestos.

• The board approved the construction of a research building at the UA’s Engineering Research Center in south Fayetteville. The UA has about $6 million to spend on construction, but other specifics weren’t available.

• The Bev Lewis Center for Women’s Athletics will be constructed on Stadium Drive between Barnhill Arena and the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building. The two-story, 40,000-SF building will house a gymnastics practice facility, weight-training room and offices. It was made possible through a gift from Bob and Marilyn Bogle, who requested that it be named for Bev Lewis, director of women’s athletics at the UA. The building is expected to cost $5.5 million and should be completed by December 2002.

• The UA plans to spend $5 million to build a new addition to its chiller plant. The plant cools water to air condition buildings on campus.

• Expanding the UA’s printing plant on Williams Street has been under way for some time. The UA expects to spend another $3.3 million to complete the project, which includes the purchase of a new, five-color printing press.

• The university will spend $1.9 million for a new storage building for library books. Some 100,000 books are stored in buildings other than the libraries, Pederson said. The new storage facility on Eastern Avenue will consist of three to five 7,500-SF modular metal buildings. The UA is currently searching for an architect. The project should be completed by January 2002.

• The UA is currently spending $1.8 million to renovate the old Delta Gamma sorority house on Maple Avenue. The building has been renamed University House and will be used for development offices.

• The UA plans to begin demolition of Fulbright Hall in the summer of 2002. The demolition is expected to cost $1.4 million. The space will probably be used for a parking lot, Pederson said.

Dorms and Docs

Two gigantic projects are still on the drawing board.

The UA plans to build dormitories and a student health center on the west side of Garland Avenue between Maple and Cleveland streets. Most of that area is now covered by a parking lot.

The dormitories would consist of several buildings encompassing some 275,000-SF of space and housing 612 students. Estimated cost is $33 million.

Also at that location, the UA wants to spend $8 million-$12 million to construct a new student health center.

In August, the university received a $3 million gift from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation of Springdale to help with construction of the new health center.

The building that currently houses the University Health Center at 600 Razorback Road was completed in 1967, when the student population was 10,000. There were an estimated 29,521 visits to the health center during the 2000-2001 academic year.

Parking Place

The university is considering construction of a second parking deck. The $18 million deck likely would be built east of Dickson Street somewhere in the vicinity of Duncan and Buchannan streets.

There are several houses in the area, but Pederson said the UA owns most of them, so it wouldn’t be difficult to clear the area to make way for the parking deck.

The area is in a valley, which would make it possible to have multiple levels to enter and exit the parking facility, blending it in with the landscape and hilltops in the area. Pederson said the UA is currently searching for engineers and architects for the project.

The UA completed construction last year on an $8.3 million, 210,000-SF intermodal transit facility adjacent to the Arkansas Union. The facility has three floors of parking (with spaces for 600 cars) and a top floor on the Garland Avenue level for transit buses.

The proposed parking deck might accommodate as many as 2,000 cars, Pederson said.