Construction Update Admissions building on hold

The UI Board of Trustees' buildings and grounds committee enthusiastically
endorsed the architect's final design for the new ambulatory care facility
at UIC, a four-story building that would straddle Taylor Street and have
second-floor walkways linking it with the UI Hospital, Neuropsychiatric
Institute, Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Wood Street parking garage.

Estimated to cost at least $55 million to 60 million to build, it will
house physicians' office, examining rooms, a cancer center, an MRI facility
(magnetic resonance imaging), and centers for children and adolescents,
dermatology and allergy, surgery and other specialties.

Architects from Perkins and Will, Chicago, displayed drawings and a model
of the red brick and glass asymmetrical building that will be located on
currently open areas at the northwest and southwest corners of Taylor and
Wood streets. "It's just a sensational building," said Trustee Susan
Gravenhorst, R-Lake Bluff. "It will add class and excitement to the medical
center." Trustee Lamont added, "Not only am I impressed with the
aesthetics, but with the speed with which it was developed and the way it
has been financed."

The medical center's strategic investment fund and a bond issue will cover
construction costs of the ambulatory care facility, officials said, with
repayment coming from income generated by clinic operations. The board
awarded Perkins & Will a second contract for the project, this one for more
than $2.1 million, for bid-document preparation, construction
administration and related services. Trustees also approved hiring Turner
Construction Co. of Chicago for construction management on the
ambulatory-care project at a cost of about $1 million.

There was less good news on the progress of the $6.7 million admissions
building for Urbana. Craig Bazzani, vice president for business and
finance, told trustees about the demise of Ware Associates of Chicago, the
architectural firm hired to design the building. The plans were about "95
percent" complete, he said, so a new architect will have to be hired to
finish the design work and preparation of bid documents. Due to the
complications created, Bazzani said, "We may see some erosion of the
quality of the building." The financial impact of the change in architects,
which he estimated to be $500,000, may mean less costly amenities and
cosmetics in the facility.

"In light of things that have happened recently, I would encourage you to
redouble your efforts to make sure that these (bidders) are solid people,
financially sound and capable of doing the work," trustee William
Engelbrecht, R-Henry, told university officials.