by Vivian Luu
Copy Editor

Construction delays on the new Pagoda Union Building (PUB) are coming with a hefty price tag.

Calculated overages are approximately $949,742, excluding uncalculated costs during the winter months. It costs $3,000 for additional construction day on the PUB, now far past its projected September 2007 deadline.

The cost for building the new PUB was an anticipated $17.5 million. However, Acting Vice President Stuart Trippel suggested that overages were expected as construction started.

Now as the PUB approaches completion, the college and the Student Body Association (SBA) will need to continue paying off their construction loan. According to the SCC website, the loan was “repaid largely through a student building fee that was enacted by a vote of the students in December of 1999.”

However, any remaining costs will now be piled along with additional fees that were procured from construction delays on the PUB.

Overages mainly consist of dues from hiring subcontractors after September 2007, the projected PUB finish date. “The majority of this is from labor,” said Student Body Association (SBA) treasurer Lucas Meserve.

Luckily for students, however, SCC has agreed to pay for half of all overage costs for the PUB construction. “At the end of the project, once we get all the final numbers, any overages will be split,” said Trippel.

In recent years, a “PUB Fee” was added to students’ tuition in order to help pay for the PUB construction. Students who took up to 10 credits were required to pay $7.30 per credit, and those who took 11 to 18 credits had to pay $2.90 per credit. Additional costs with construction delays might increase these fees.

However, Meserve does not believe that overage fees will directly affect students. “At this instant, there hasn’t been an impact [on student tuition],” he said. A $75,000 contingency fund, which consists of money that has not been used by the SBA in previous years, will be used to cover additional costs for the PUB construction.

Over the next several years, SCC and the students will also be paying off its low interest construction loan to the state.

“Right now, we’re over the contracted amount [of $18 million.],” said Meserve. “While it’s not great, we’re only looking at [having to pay] 1/18 of the contracted costs and student government paying for only half of that. We could’ve done much worse.”

The PUB now expected to open on February 18. However, this is the “Substantial Completion” date, which Trippel described as “the day on which the owner can legally occupy the property.” Students will not be able to use the PUB until the week of February 22, after furniture has been moved in and food services from Chartwells Dining Services are ready.

“We’ve waited a long time for this and I know that the students are excited to (start using) the building. We are certainly excited to have the students in the building in as well,” said Trippel. “Nobody likes delays but I think that people will agree when they see [the PUB] and when it’s finally open that it is worth the wait. It’s a very beautiful building.”