The Shorthorn - MAC still waiting on rock wall construction

HOME

Campus Life

MAC still waiting on rock wall construction

Written by Mark Bauer

Monday, 08 September 2008 08:00 PM

Information

Other “final touch” features the MAC is looking to incorporate around the facility:

More signs to guide students throughout the nearly 200,000 sq. ft. facility

Additional landscaping around the building to add some color

Constructing an awning over the outdoor courts to provide relief from the heat

Paintings/artwork throughout the facility

“It’s like building a new house. Once the roof and walls are put up – you start on the fine touches,” Frank Lamas, vice president student affairs

The Maverick Activities Center might finally receive the rock wall students were promised last spring by the end of the fall semester.

The project, which could cost up to $200,000, was postponed after the original location in an old racquetball court was given a red light by civil engineers.

“We got through the design part of the project and then there wasn’t enough structural engineering to safely secure the wall,” said Chris Muller, campus recreation associate director. “There was nothing we could have done to prevent it.”

Muller said what they are looking for in the new location is something that will not only be safe for students but also high quality.

The rock wall was in the original designs as far back as 2005 but was later removed as a way to cut costs to stay within budget, campus recreation director Doug Kuykendall said. The outside volleyball and basketball courts were also eliminated and reintroduced back into the plans as they saved money through the construction process, he said. But some students, who don’t understand reasons behind the delay, are disappointed.

“I went up there to look at it last spring, and they told me it wasn’t open yet,” political science senior Ryan Satalmach said.

Satalmach said he also checked at the end of the summer and was let down again.

Kuykendall said he takes partial, if not full, responsibility for the delay. If he had known from the beginning that the structural integrity of the wall would be a problem, he would have pushed for it to be constructed earlier. Then they could have gotten it right from the start, he said. Still, he said the rock wall will be top notch and match the rest of the MAC facility.

“We’re not cutting corners,” he said. “As soon as the designers come forward with plans that will be best for the students, we’ll start construction immediately.”
Views: 889 | E-mail

Be first to comment this article

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 02 December 2008 02:37 PM )

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]