A halt in state funding has forced Cal State Long Beach to stop construction on the new Hall of Science building, which is replacing Peterson Hall 3.
Investors have stopped buying General Obligation Bonds from the state panel that oversees loans for public works because it has yet to produce a budget, said Mary Stephens, CSULB vice president of administration and finance. These bonds help pay for construction for the state’s academic buildings.
Stephens said additional millions of dollars will now be spent in halting and restarting construction and keeping the site secured in the meantime.
“This is a very expensive consequence of the budget problem,” Stephens said.
Costs for the Hall of Science project, excluding the recent additional stopping costs, are at approximately $105.8 million.
For construction to resume the state needs to produce this and next year’s budget, Stephens said, an issue affecting state spending in many areas. After the budgets are established, Stephens said it will take approximately three months for construction to begin again.
CSULB still wants the Hall of Science construction to stay on schedule and has set the completion date for 2011, Stephens said.
The completion date for the new Outpost restaurant, last said to open Jan. 19, has been pushed back to Feb. 2, Stephens said. The convenience store beside the Outpost will open be by Jan. 26.
Don Penrod, Forty-Niner Shops CEO, said he didn’t know of anything in particular that was slowing construction down.
“It’s an unfortunate confluence of events,” Stephens said regarding the Outpost. “Not every project is like this, but unfortunately this one is.”
The total cost for the Outpost project stands at approximately $5.3 million, paid for by Forty-Niner Shops.
The Parking Structure 3 project will open on Jan. 26 as well, which is ahead of schedule, Stephens said.
Though the contract allows the construction company to complete its work by March, CSULB officials asked the company if it could accelerate its construction.
All of the structure’s 1,300 parking spaces will be open Monday through Thursday, Stephens said. However, the bridge between Parking Structure 3 and Parking Structure 2 will remain closed until its completion. The new parking structure will be closed on Fridays to allow crewmembers to work on the bridge.
The cost for this project is about $23.3 million and will be paid for by parking fees.
Work began Dec. 22 on the Student Recreation and Wellness Center, which was approved by students in a February 2007 election, said Robert Lowery, project manager for Associated Students Inc.
Lowery said officials are looking to open the center by summer or fall 2010. Total cost for this project is $66 million and will be paid for by a new student fee already approved by students.
The center is being constructed on the former parking lot 11C. The net total of additional parking spaces provided by Parking Structure 3 will be 676 due to the loss of the parking lot.
CSULB also began construction Dec. 22 on its new Residential Learning Campus. The RLC will be constructed on the property CSULB acquired from Brooks College. The site currently accommodates three buildings, one of which CSULB will take down.
The satellite campus will provide 550 new dorm beds along with eight to 10 additional rooms for residential advisors.
The site will also hold four faculty apartments, some general education courses, a computer lab and lounge space, Stephens said. The project cost is currently at about $14.7 million.