Over the past several months, Sacramento State has undergone construction projects to maintain and renovate existing facilities, and to build new ones. A number of projects, however, have been put on hold due to lack of funding.

ONGOING CONSTRUCTION

Facilities Services began repaving Lot 7, located on State University Drive East.

Mario Ruiz, interim associate vice president of Facilities, said maintenance of the parking lot had been delayed and Lot 7 would occasionally rise up. Facilities is also redesigning the parking lot to accommodate more parking spaces.

The parking lot maintenance and renovation cost $753,000. Revenue from parking permit sales through the University Transportation and Parking Services funded the project, said Freddy Orozco, assistant to the director of UTAPS.

While the project may be disruptive during the first few weeks of the semester, Ruiz said traffic can still flow smoothly through surrounding areas.

“Traffic can flow easily with the construction because of the road way. It is easy to get in and out without an issue,” Ruiz said.

Paige Nordberg, junior religious studies and philosophy major, said repaving the parking lot when classes started is poor timing, but it needed to be fixed.

“There were always issues with that (flooding),” Nordberg said. “It flooded a few times last year.”

RECENTLY COMPLETED PROJECTS

In addition to the Lot 7 renovation, the Library has undergone two projects since the end of spring.

The Reserve Book Room, Circulation and Interlibrary Loan Services, where students can borrow laptops, have been consolidated to one desk called User Services.

Mary Reddick, head of User Services, said the project is to make the Library more accessible.

“We can better serve the faculty and students,” Reddick said. “Make things more convenient, modern and up-to-date.”

The Library Collaborative has been expanded into the previous Reserve Book Room area, said Linda Goff, head of institutional services.

This added more study space and materials in the Library Collaborative, which now has 37 computers, two black-and-white printers, one color printer, two photocopy machines and one scanner.

Other improvements throughout the Library include an upgraded air handler to improve air conditioning, more group study rooms and restored seating.

To cut costs, the university tried to repair chairs in the Library before purchasing new ones, spokeswoman Kimberly Nava said in an e-mail to The State Hornet.

Nava said general funds implemented through the normal budget provided funding for the Library renovations.

Tabzeera Dosu, dean of the Library, said funds were provided from the 2009-10 budget. The cost was not provided.

Reddick said a future project for the Library includes remodeling the website to make it more accessible with Wi-Fi devices. There is no projection date of when this will begin.

Other recently finished construction projects on campus are The Well, Del Norte Hall and Folsom Hall, located on Folsom Boulevard.

The Well, a 150,000-square-foot recreation, health and fitness facility, officially opened Thursday. Costs of building, the $71 million facility, were paid for by student fees.

Del Norte Hall, which used to be the Hornet Bookstore, has been renovated to make room for the campus’ Human Resources department.

Nursing students have also started using parts of Folsom Hall, which used to be the California State Teachers’ Retirement System’s headquarters building.

Rob Hammerstad, junior biology major, said remodeling and construction of the buildings is necessary, but there is a misappropriation of funds.

“Two semesters ago I had classes in Eureka (Hall) and it feels like having classes in a cave, but at the same time I don’t know if this is the time to be building a gymnasium,” Hammerstad said.

Lois Boulgarides, lecturer and interim president of the Capitol chapter of the California Faculty Association said while the new buildings on campus are nice, the students, faculty and staff need to be prioritized.

“It is important that we keep in mind that the priority lies in academics. Buildings are nice but let’s not forget our core mission: providing academics for students,” she said.

Michelle Curtis can be reached at [email protected]