2008 Woodie Awards
Proper planning trumps sewage
By Katherine McGehee
Issue date: 1/17/08 Section: News
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"They had to reroute a sewer line because a major city line was underneath where the building is going," Janet Spraker, director of engineering services, said. "It had to be rerouted closer to the streets, and that's what took so long. It was a big deal with the city."
Spraker said the sewer line did take longer than expected, but the construction workers were able to do other things on the site such that they really didn't lose the time.
The sewer line problems had a negligible effect on the budget for the building as well, according to Spraker.
"There have been change orders," Spraker said. "But we have… a contingency fund to pay for things like the additional work with the sewer line or if a sidewall needs to be built a little differently, or oops, we missed a door."
The $700,000 contingency fund is still in good shape, according to Spraker.
"The total project budget of phase one including construction, architectural fees, surveys and testing is $16.5 million," Spraker said. "The pool addition, phase two, is $7.3 million."
"[Phase two] of the construction will take place after this phase is open," Spraker said. "It will start just as soon as [phase one] is done. It's in the design phase right now."
Ron Nelson, campus recreation director, said the pool is going to be very unique.
"We're in the designing stages, so we're not ready to say exactly what it's going to look like, but it's going to be a recreational pool with a hot tub, a lazy river, a water slide and a lap pool," Nelson said. "It's going to be much more than a swimming pool."
One of the issues still being discussed is who will have access to the Wellness Center.
"We are forming a committee now," Nelson said. "We have asked Bill [Staley], the SGA president, to get a group of students together to come up with policies and procedures for the building."
