Most of the days of October have passed, taking with them yet another unmet completion date for the Cornell Parking Structure.
The opening of the structure was originally slated to coincide with the beginning of the fall semester, but due to what officials called "unforeseen sight situations," the completion of the project was pushed back until early October.
Officials said numerous problems with underground utility lines were the reason for the first unmet completion date.
Don Knox, UNM construction manager, said Gerald Martin Contracting had been given a deadline extension to Oct. 24, but due to a "combination of several events," he doubts the project will be completed by then.
"We at UNM don't believe Gerald Martin is going to meet that date," Knox said. "We don't think the project is going to be done for another few weeks."
Knox said revisions to the plans for the entrance to the parking structure have been one of the biggest problems in completing the project.
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Construction of the 400-space, six-level parking structure began on Sept. 9, 2002.
The project is being funded entirely through UNM Revenue Bonds.
The bonds are essentially a loan that will be paid back through the facility's parking fees, which are projected to cost 50 cents per half hour, with a $10 a day maximum, according to UNM's Parking and Transportation Department.
Sabra Basler, a transportation information/project facilitator working on the project, said there will be no staff or student permit parking in the structure, but anyone who wants to pay the daily rates will be allowed to park there.
She added, though, that University visitors are the targeted customers of the garage.
The Cornell Parking Structure is the first phase in constructing the new School of Architecture building.
Construction on a welcome center and Internet cafÇ have begun within the structure, but aren't expected to be completed until after its opening.
Original plans called for the buildings to be constructed at the same time as the parking structure, but they had to be put on hold for several months as they would have put the project even further over budget.
Roger Lujan, director of UNM Facility Planning, said about $6.2 million has been spent on the project, nearly $600,000 more than its original budget.
Lujan said speculations exist that the project will not be completed until as late as mid-November.
Redondo Drive, the campus street bordering the construction site, had to be partially dug up to lay the building's underground utility network and was narrowed to one lane for months.
Many members of the UNM community said they are tired of having to navigate around the orange construction cones and wish the project's completion would come.
"I mean come on, how many problems could they possibly run into," said Amanda Aragon, a UNM sophomore. "I know they are doing this to improve campus, but all we've got so far is heartache."
Bob Cardenas, project manager for Gerald Martin, the firm in charge of the Cornell Parking Structure, did not return numerous telephone calls.
"I just wish they would hurry up and finish this thing," Lujan said.
