By ETHAN SCOTT
The BYU Board of Trustees approved a proposal Wednesday to begin preliminary planning for a structure that would replace the Smith Family Living Center.
Under the agreement, BYU would use future donations and existing financial reserves to fund plans for the new building. Construction would not begin until the Board of Trustees approved the plans, said Brad W. Farnsworth, BYU administrative vice president.
“Replacement of the Smith Family Living Center is the administration’s top priority for facility improvement,” Farnsworth said.
Preliminary plans for the new building will be done no sooner than January 2000, he said.
Because BYU operates under a policy that requires it to keep a static amount of academic square footage, some campus structures would have to be demolished before the new building could be constructed.
“The Smith Family Living Center and other facilities that are not very efficent will be razed to provide for the academic space needed for the new building,” Farnsworth said.
Although no specifics have been decided upon, several criteria have already been set for the new building.
The building would have to provide a better learning enviornment for students, have a smaller footprint, be more energy efficient and open up the campus, Farnsworth said.
The announcement comes on the heels of a period of intense construction on the BYU campus. In between the time the Harold B. Lee Library extension is completed and the time when construction of the new Smith Family Living Center might begin, students can expect relative peace and quiet on campus.
“We are at a point where we have taken care of immediate needs,” said Carri Jenkins, director of university communications.
One reason the campus seemed inundated with construction was that several projects had to be done at once.
“We had some needs that needed to be taken care of, and they just came at the same time,” Jenkins said.
As library construction finishes up, workers will be reassigned to complete minor maintenance work, such as replacing carpet, that has been postponed for the duration of the construction.
“There are a lot of buildings that haven’t received maintenance work,” Farnsworth said.
While the amount of construction on campus has been a headache for both students and faculty, Farnsworth said that doing many big projects at once actually will make life easier for everyone.
“We purposely put four or five projects at the same time,” he said. “Otherwise construction would have been stretched out over 10 years or more. We said, `Let’s just get everything done.'”
While several projects remain on the master plan, there is no clear deadline for any new projects to be completed.
“We called it a 10-year master plan, but we knew it would take more than 10-years,” Farnsworth said.
Many students are looking forward to a break from construction.
“I’m glad they’re almost done,” said Jeff Bowers, 28, a graduate student from Turlock, Calif., studying computer science.
Bowers said the biggest hassle has been walkway detours around campus construction sites.
