Boom puts squeeze on art building budget

Auraria planners will request extra state money to make up for rising cost of construction

By Jesse Stephenson
The Metropolitan

Coloradoâs bright economic times are casting a shadow on Aurariaâs development plans.

Statewide demand for construction services has caused the estimated cost of building the campus performing arts complex to jump almost $3.8 million, said Dean Wolf,  Aurariaâs executive vice president for Administration.

Wolf said heâll know exactly how much extra money Auraria will need for the building by fall, but one thing is certain: Auraria needs a watertight case for why it needs more money before it asks the state legislature and private donors to pick up the tab.

ãWeâre not going up there to ask for anything without a good reason for it,ä Wolf said.

Colorado lawmakers approved $34.6 million for the project in 1996, but mandated that the three colleges at Auraria raise an additional $2 million.

Auraria administrators say they will submit a list of construction-related cost increases this summer to the Capital Development Committee, the legislative group that recommends how much state money should be spent on the arts building.

For example, Wolf said precast concrete is much more expensive now than it was in 1996. Precast concrete blocks are specially molded in a factory and shipped to a construction site. The demand for precast concrete in Colorado has increased so much recently that factories canât fill all the orders ÷ and charge more for the orders they accept.

ãYou place your order nine months in advance to buy a time slot from the manufacturer; you pay money up front and you pay penalty if you change the time slot,ä Wolf said. ãSome people out there are brokering time slots ÷ we are in a very volatile time for construction.ä

Sen. Dottie Wham, R-Denver, chairwoman of the Capital Development Committee, said the group has made some allowances for the increased construction costs across the state.

Dick Feuerborn, Aurariaâs director of Facilities Planning and Use, said the precision with which Auraria documents its expenditures to the Capital Development Committee will impact how seriously the committee takes future requests for campus construction money. Wham agreed.

The next state-funded project Auraria is planning for the campus is a technology classroom building.

ãWe donât want to give them the thought that whenever we think when thereâs a problem weâll go up there and ask for more money and the problem will be solved,ä Feuerborn said. 

Keeping costs of the building in check means Auraria administrators constantly haggle with art and music professors over whatâs essential.

One portion of the structure, which will be built adjacent to the Plaza Building, is devoted to classrooms.

The performing arts section of the building will feature concert and recital halls in addition to production related classrooms, such as a costume lab and set-building shop.

Art and music professors from Metro, the University of Colorado at Denver and the Community College of Denver met with Auraria to hammer out the details of the performing arts segment of the building.

Hal Tamblyn, chairman of Metroâs music department, is one of the instructors advising Auraria on what types of classrooms are needed in the new arts complex.

Tamblyn said he and the other professors targeted some basic elements the building needs, such as a large auditorium,  to properly teach music and theater students at Auraria.

Auraria doesnât have any formal performance areas on campus, so music and theatrical productions are performed in off-campus auditoriums, such as those at  South High School and the University of Denver.
ãStudents just donât get the right training unless they get to rehearse in a performance hall,ä Tamblyn said. ãRight now weâre basically a travelling road show.ä

Feuerborn said Auraria has to consider the cost palatability of every suggestion Tamblyn and the other professors make to prevent further strain on the budget.

ãWe have been really trying to ratchet down on them and say, ÎO.K.; do you really need this?âä Feuerborn said. ãBut we want to make sure weâre not designing a complex that dictates that you canât do certain things because we didnât design it right.ä

Metro President Sheila Kaplan said some of the costs of the building could be offset by raising more than just $2 million from private donors.

Kaplan said portions of the complex will probably be named after the most generous contributors.
ãObviously, our goal is to raise as much as we can. The goal right now would buy us a Chevrolet of a building, we want to raise enough for a Buick,ä she said.

Wolf said the colleges and Auraria will begin soliciting money this summer, and heâll request additional funds from the legislature this fall.

Wham said that, so far, Aurariaâs cost projections for the arts building have been well documented.