UA trustees to tour Iowa State residence complex
Posted on Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Members of the University of Arkansas board of trustees will board a plane bound for Ames, Iowa, this morning on a trip funded by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville to tour a housing facility at Iowa State University.
A Fayetteville administrator and one staff member will join the four trustees expected to take the trip, which will return by midafternoon, said UA System President B. Alan Sugg.
The tour was arranged so trustees will have an idea about construction costs and design selections as they make decisions regarding a $ 50 million residence complex for UA. Trustees approved initial exploration of the plan Oct. 15, but have yet to give the green light to major details so it can be built.
“This is a big project,” Sugg said. “I think the board felt like they’d like to look at some facilities on another campus.” The group will leave from Northwest Arkansas on a plane either owned by the UA or the Razorback Foundation, said Don Pederson, UA’s vice chancellor for finance and administration.
He estimated that the cost will be about $ 2, 500, which will be paid with funds from his office’s annual budget.
“The plane is really the only [cost ] I know of,” Pederson said. “We’ll be picked up, and I think they’ll provide lunch for us someway.” A UA housing administrator, Randy Alexander, will meet the group in Iowa. Alexander worked for the housing department at Iowa State University and has experience with the facility trustees will tour.
If they have time, the group may look at more of the campus’ housing buildings.
“It’s first and foremost to tour that residence hall,” Pederson said. Trustees will evaluate “what worked and what didn’t work.” Pederson’s office began planning the trip in November.
Carl Johnson, a trustee from Little Rock and chairman of the board’s building and grounds committee, had planned to make the trip but canceled because of work obligations.
He said the goal is “to get some comparison. That’s all. It’s a factfinding trip and nothing more.” The trustees making the journey are interested in the Iowa facility’s cost, said Stanley Reed, a board member from Marianna.
When UA presented trustees with the concept of its expensive two-building project, some were hesitant, he said.
“They seemed kind of high,” he said Monday. “I think that raised concern.” Campus officials told trustees in October that the 215, 000 square-foot complex would have to be subsidized by about $ 331, 000 a year to pay for its costs.
Reed pointed out that when UA was in the process of building a new football stadium, trustees toured out-of-state facilities, as well.
“It never hurts to see what your competition is doing,” he said.
Sugg and trustees promised Monday that no decisions will be made on the trip.
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