Union Still Behind Schedule

Don Luse, director of the Carolina Union, said he now expects Phase I of the comprehensive renovation process to be completed in late March or early April.

Phase I was originally slated for completion in June 2001, but the projected end date was subsequently pushed back to November 2001, December 2001 and finally February 2002 because of complications in the construction process.

The most recent delay is largely due to University officials' dissatisfaction with certain elements of the project, such as the stairs between the Student Union and the Pit.

Luse said Phase I, which is the construction of a new addition to the Union, still has several elements yet to be completed. "There are still some windows that aren't in and some work that needs to be finished inside once the windows get in -- carpets, painting, testing the water lines, testing the electricity, testing the heat and air conditioning, things like that," Luse said. "We hope we will be finished sometime at the end of March or beginning of April."

Luse said the next big step that students might notice in the project is the reopening of the stairs leading from South Road to the Pit between the Union and Student Stores. These stairs have been closed since June 2000, when construction of the addition began.

Luse said he had hoped the steps would be open for the start of classes but that he was not sure as of Monday afternoon whether they would be ready.

"We're close, but we don't know whether we'll make it or not," he said. "The snow may have done us in a little."

Phases II and III of the construction still remain -- the renovation of the lower level and second floor of the original Union building and of the main floor and lobby.

Luse said each of those projects is projected to take six months and will start immediately after Phase I is complete, establishing a final completion date of spring 2003 for all phases of Union renovation.

He said he hopes that no further delays occur in Phases II and III.

"I would like to say we'll be able to stick to (the six-month estimates), but we weren't able to for the first phase," he said.

Luse said the latest delay shouldn't cause any further adjustments for students. "It's pretty much the same as it's been -- I can't think of anything we're really disrupting," he said.

Ryan Donahoe, events planning coordinator for the Union, said he has taken the delays into account when helping groups reserve meeting space for the upcoming months.

"Basically we've double booked rooms -- we reserved in the old building and also in the new, so most groups have space in either," Donahoe said.

"For fall, we're only taking reservations in the new building."

He said if the new building is not open in time for the fall semester, his staff will have to work to find all groups rooms in the old building.

But Donahoe said he is hopeful that groups will be patient and realize they will benefit when the project is completed.

"When everything's done, there will be more rooms than we have now."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.