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WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2007 | NEWS | WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
CAMPUS
Completion of renovations delayed
Addition, originally scheduled to be completed by spring, pushed back due to costs, rain
Complications due to rising lumber costs and summer rains have delayed an addition to the Student Recreation and Fitness Center. Officials at the center expect the $6.3 million addition to be completed by May 2008.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
By Dylan Schoonover dschoonover@kansan.com
A $6.3 million addition to the north end of the Student Recreation and Fitness Center will not be completed during the spring semester as originally planned.
Instead, the addition to the nearly four-year-old center won't be complete until at least late May 2008, after the semester is completed.
Mary Chappell, director of recreation services, said that spring and summer rains, coupled with rising lumber costs related to Hurricane Katrina, have contributed to the delay.
The bid for lumber costs was placed before the hurricane struck.
She said the center hoped to have the entire infrastructure in place by the end of summer.
"We're pulling all the pipes and wiring," Chappell said. "We're going to have to close some of the track area in certain places."
The addition includes four new multi-purpose courts, an expansion of the 2,000 square-foot free-weight area and two additional racquetball courts.
The track will be temporarily closed as it is expanded to stretch nearly a full quarter-mile around all four courts. Along with the track, the fitness area used for aerobics, yoga and martial arts will also be closed
KANSAN.COM
A photo gallery of the construction at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center
once the structural part of the new addition begins.
Chappell said she hoped to only close these areas during holidays, when the recreation center would not be as busy. She admitted that probably wouldn't be the only time areas on the north end would have to be closed but said she hoped to keep the closures to a minimum.
While the recreation center won't be completed on time, it will bring more to students than just extra space and equipment.
Jason Krone, director of sports programs, said that two of the new multi-purpose courts will be made of a synthetic, plastic material. That means the courts can serve more than just basketball or volleyball.
"Certainly the courts will be used for basketball but a sport like indoor soccer is an underserved population," he said. "Enclosed walls around the field allow us to look at expanding floor hockey and adding indoor soccer and possibly roller hockey."
During the spring semester, Krone said that 80 teams played eight-oneight outdoor soccer. He said he
hoped the new addition would allow scheduling for six-on-six indoor soccer during the the winter when the players want to keep playing.
One student who said he would jump at the opportunity to play more soccer is Dane Hanson, Overland Park graduate student. He is part of a soccer group that meets every Sunday. He said he traveled to Kansas
City at least once a week last year to play in an indoor soccer league when it got too cold to play outdoors.
"I didn't even know they planned to put in a surface that soccer could be played on," Hanson said. "I think it's easier to injure yourself in indoor soccer but I'd definitely be interested in playing."
Chappell said the addition would
accomplish the center's goal of cutting down on the wait time. She said it was not uncommon to have every basketball court filled and teams lined up waiting to get into games.
"We're excited there will be more space for more people and more activities," she said.
— Edited by Joe Caponio
COURTS
Penalties increase for MIP court fees
By Susan Schwarz
sschwarz@kansan.com
Students and Lawrence residents will be paying $100 more for diversion.
The changing fees include a $150 fee for supervised probation, a $10 fee for fingerprinting done through the municipal court, an approximate $52 per day fee cost incurred by the city for incarceration and a $100 increase on the cost of diversion.
The City Commission passed its increased municipal courts fees on July 17, increasing several fees that students could end up paving.
The ordinance took effect after its publication over the weekend.
The previous diversion fee for an MIP was $300 has increased to $400.
According to the municipal court's annual report, the number of MIPs in
Lawrence has increased since 2003. The municipal court prosecuted 438 people for minor in possession charges last year.
If each of the same number or people charged with a MIP chose to go through diversion and have the charge dismissed there will be an additional $43,800 in the court's annual revenue.
Rob Chestnut, city commissioner, said the fees are only a fraction of what the city needs to provide law enforcement to the Lawrence community but the added funds would help.
The Municipal Court's annual report said yearly revenue was down 5 percent from 2005 to 2006.The City has also faced some budget concerns in the past months.
Edited by Ben Smith