Officials Announce 8th Delay

University officials postponed the opening of the new Student Union for the eighth time last week when they moved the date to Aug. 1.

The last opening date was scheduled for July 17. The Union was originally slated to open in June 2001.

Don Luse, director of the Student Union, said numerous factors have led the most recent postponement.

Construction workers are still putting the finishing touches on the facility, and Luse said many of the delays stem from the miscalculation of the amount of time needed to complete these tasks.

In addition, the new Union must pass several inspections before it can be opened to the public. These required inspections are taking longer then anticipated.

Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for facilities planning, said the final state inspection will be held Friday.

Though the construction has been plagued with uncertainty in the past, Luse said he is optimistic this will be the final deadline.

"The only thing that would delay the process now would be a failed inspection," said Luse.

Though unlikely, the failure of an inspection is possible, and Luse believes the Aug. 1 deadline is the last possible date to open the new Union without affecting the University community. Both students and administrative staff could suffer adverse effects if the Union is delayed again.

Several student organizations already have reserved rooms in the new facility, and any further postponement would mean these rooms would be unavailable.

In order to safeguard against such a problem, Union officials intentionally booked the rooms in both the new and old facilities.

"By double-booking, we are able to assure organizations a spot," said Luse.

"The only question is whether the spot will be in the old or the new Union."

This means that although students will definitely have a place to meet, it might not be in the much nicer new Union facilities they expect.

Another problem that might arise is that administrative staff would be unable to move into their new offices.

This would then further delay the commencement of Phase II, which is the renovation of the basement and second floor of the old Union.

The Underground, the basement level entertainment area of the old Union, cannot reopen until Phase II is complete.

If the current deadline is not met, students can expect the opening of this facility to be delayed.

Luse said that if the Union is not ready on Aug. 1, officials have no choice but to delay the move.

But he said he is confident that no matter what happens, the Union will be able serve UNC students.

Luse said, "The way in which we planned the phases of the construction allows us to always provide our services."

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