Regents OK expansion at CU

Community center to house services, new dining hall

Erika Gonzalez, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, August 17, 2007

COLORADO SPRINGS - The University of Colorado board of regents Thursday approved a new, $65.6 million community center on the Boulder campus, despite concerns about the size and cost of the project.

The Center for Community would include a 900-seat dining hall, a 350-space, underground parking structure and student services such as career counseling, now housed in Willard Hall.

Paul Tabolt, vice chancellor for administration, told the regents that the center will help make the campus more efficient.

The space freed up at Willard, for example, will be converted into 180 beds to meet the school's growing residential needs. The dining hall will replace dining facilities at Kittredge Commons and the Cheyenne-Arapahoe residence hall, which will be turned into classroom space.

"Our long-term vision for our residential plan is to bring academic portions of the community closer, so you could walk 80 to 100 feet from your residence hall and attend a class," said Tabolt.

Regent Cindy Carlisle, however, worried about the scope of the 259,000-square-foot center. At Wednesday's meeting, the Boulder Democrat said a constituent had called her complaining that the project "was the size of five football fields."

Tabolt said that the actual size of the center, minus the parking garage, was roughly 130,000 square feet. (A football field is about 57,600 square feet.)

Cost also concerned Carlisle.

"It seems like the money for this project will come out of thin air, but it will be coming out of student pockets," said Carlisle, who voted against the project. Regent Tom Lucero also voted no.

Tabolt said the administration has $6.6 million to start the project, but intends to finance the rest through bonds, paid off through increased parking fees and higher room and board fees.

The center will be built on an existing parking lot, located on the south side of campus near Regents Hall. In addition to the regents' approval, Boulder administrators must also get the OK from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and the Colorado Legislature's Capital Development Committee. The goal, said Tabolt, is to complete the structure by fall 2010.

About the Center for Community

$65.6 million is the cost of the center.

$6.6 million is how much the administration has to start the project. It intends to finance the rest through bonds, paid off with increased parking fees and higher room and board fees, said Paul Tabolt, vice chancellor for administration.

900 students could be seated in the dining hall.

180 dormitory beds could be made available at Willard Hall with the move of student services such as career counseling to the new center.

gonzaleze@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5350